March 11, 2014
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By Brian Ormiston
UCFKnights.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) - On a beautiful day in Orlando with temperatures reaching the mid-80s, the No. 62 UCF men's tennis team took down No. 64 Buffalo, 5-2, at the UCF Tennis Complex Tuesday. The win improved the Knights' record to 8-2 on the season, while the Bulls fell to 8-4.
Doubles proved to be an intense battle, with the No. 2 duo of Matthew Gladstone and Francesc Aulina defeating Sergio Arevalillo and Jonathan Hannestad, 8-4. Buffalo bounced back with a win at No. 1, so it came down to No. 3. Inaki Espindola served for the match at 7-6 but got broken vs. Pablo Alvarez and Sebastian Ionescu as it reached a tiebreak. Chris Barrus was able to give UCF the 1-0 lead, though, by serving it out at 7-4 with a pair of big points for the Black and Gold.
It was the third time this year the No. 3 pair clinched the doubles point, as the freshmen competed well under difficult conditions.
The visitors would not go away, evening the match in singles with a victory at No. 6. That would not hurt UCF, however, with Francesc Aulina earning a 6-2, 6-1 win against Alvarez at No. 3, and Inake Espindola stretched the lead to 3-1 by way of a 6-0, 6-3 triumph at No. 5 against Arevalillo.
Barrus once again came through, sealing the overall match for UCF by storming back from a first-set loss to defeat Hannestad, 1-6, 6-0, 6-3, at No. 4. Barrus picked up an early break in the third set, ultimately cruising his way to the win.
This left Gladstone at No. 1, who lost the first set 6-2 only to storm back for a 2-6, 6-0, 6-3 victory vs. Damien David.
UCF will take a day off before hosting No. 27 Penn State Thursday at 9:30 a.m.
UCF 5, Buffalo 2
March 11, 2014
Doubles
No. 1 Damien David/Akhil Mehta (Buffalo) def. Amar Hromic/Jesse Flores (UCF) 8-6
No. 2 Matthew Gladstone/Francesc Aulina (UCF) def. Sergio Arevalillo/Jonathan Hannestad (Buffalo) 8-4
No. 3 Chris Barrus/Inaki Espindola (UCF) def. Pablo Alvarez/Sebastian Ionescu (Buffalo) 8-7
Singles
No. 1 Matthew Gladstone (UCF) def. Damien David (Buffalo) 2-6, 6-0, 6-3
No. 2 Sebastian Ionescu (Buffalo) def. Amar Hromic (UCF) 7-5, 6-3
No. 3 Francesc Aulina (UCF) def. Pablo Alvarez (Buffalo) 6-2, 6-1
No. 4 Chris Barrus (UCF) def. Jonathan Hannestad (Buffalo) 1-6, 6-0, 6-3
No. 5 Inaki Espindola (UCF) def. Sergio Arevalillo (Buffalo) 6-0, 6-3
No. 6 Akhil Mehta (Buffalo) def. Jesse Flores (UCF) 6-2, 6-3
Order of Finish: Doubles 2, 1, 3. Singles 6, 3, 5, 4, 1, 2