ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – After dropping the doubles point on Sunday afternoon, the UCF men's tennis team made it a clean sweep of the singles matches to clinch a 6-1 victory on the road at Auburn.
"We did a nice job of executing a lot of things we have been working on today," Director of Tennis John Roddick said. "I was very proud of the guys and how they regrouped and responded after losing a tough doubles point."
Trailing 1-0 after doubles, Alan Rubio quickly evened the score at 1-1 with a straight-set victory at No. 3. The Mexican international churned out a 6-3, 6-4 score over Carles Sarrio.
Eero Vasa sent UCF (2-2) into the lead moments later. After falling in the opening set to the Auburn (6-3) No. 4 Olle Thestrup, the rookie rallied to win 12 of the next 14 games to the tune of a 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory.
A short time later, Mikhail Sokolovskiy brought the Black and Gold within one point of clinching the match. The rookie from Russia needed a second-set tiebreak to close out the contest 6-4, 7-5 at No. 5.
The three rookies put the Knights on the brink of victory, and senior Danny Kerznerman followed through to put the match to bed with a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 6 against Brandon Laubser.
Korey Lovett and Gabriel Decamps kept singles play perfect at No. 1 and 2, respectively. Decamps, playing in his fourth career match, defeated Matteo De Vincentis at No. 2, 7-5, 6-4. Lovett bested Edward Nguyen in three sets at the top of the order, 6-2, 5-7, 6-3.
The hosts claimed the opening point in doubles, but the Knights did not surrender it lightly. Lovett and Vasa made quick work of Nguyen and De Vincentis 6-4, but Auburn rallied at No. 3 with Sarrio and Diego Chavarria topping Rubio and Kerznerman, 6-4.
The first point came down to a tiebreak at No. 2 for Sokolovskiy and Decamps against Thestrup and Tad Maclean, but Auburn won 7-6(4) to win its lone point of the afternoon.
The Knights will play their home opener at the USTA National Campus on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. against North Florida.
UCF 6, Auburn 1
Singles competition
1. Korey Lovett (UCF) def. Edward Nguyen (AUBURN) 6-2, 5-7, 6-3
2. Gabriel DeCamps (UCF) def. Matteo De Vincentis (AUBURN) 7-5, 6-4
3. Alan Rubio (UCF) def. Carles Sarrio (AUBURN) 6-3, 6-4
4. Eero Vasa (UCF) def. Olle Thestrup (AUBURN) 1-6, 6-1, 6-1
5. Mikhail Sokolovskiy (UCF) def. Tad Maclean (AUBURN) 6-4, 7-5
6. Danny Kerznerman (UCF) def. Brandon Laubser (AUBURN) 6-4, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. Korey Lovett/Eero Vasa (UCF) def. Edward Nguyen/Matteo De Vincentis (AUBURN) 6-4
2. Tad Maclean/Olle Thestrup (AUBURN) def. Gabriel DeCamps/Mikhail Sokolovskiy (UCF) 7-6 (7-4)
3. Carles Sarrio/Diego Chavarria (AUBURN) def. Alan Rubio/Danny Kerznerman (UCF) 6-4
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