Florida Gators
UCF
Men?s Tennis Defeats UCF To Begin Dual Match Season
Friday, January 27, 2006 | Men's Tennis
The second-ranked University of Florida men's tennis team began the 2006 dual match season with a 7-0 victory over Central Florida at the Ring Tennis Complex in Gainesville Thursday afternoon. The win was the 18th-straight opening day victory for UF, which began its fifth season under head coach Andy Jackson. The victory marked the fourth straight year UF began the season by shutting out its opponent.
“The first day is the equalizing factor,” said Jackson. “It is always a little scary and there are nerves, however, I thought we responded well. The competition will begin to move up against Furman (on Friday at 3 p.m. in Gainesville), and then Sunday we play a national championship contender in Baylor at their place (2 p.m. in Waco, Texas). We need to make a lot of improvements fast. We need to see if we can develop our doubles.”
The Gators overcame unforced errors to sweep the Golden Knights on the doubles courts claiming the point in 54 minutes. UF's Nestor Briceno and Stefan Tell made quick work of UCF's Alamgir Wali and Sebastian Delgado on court two, 8-2. Following that, Chris Brandi and Ryan Sherry put Florida on top 1-0 as the duo came back from down a break at 5-4 to take an 8-5 victory at the bottom of the order against UCF's Tarek Ben Soltane and Brock Sakey. Janne Holmia and Greg Ouellette gave the Gators wins on all three courts with an 8-3 margin on one over Norman Alcantara and Sinan Sudas.
The UF lead was stretched to 2-0 when Soltane retired his singles match on court five where Brandi led 6-1, 3-0. Holmia, who missed the entire 2005 season due to back surgery, returned to take a 6-1, 6-0 win over Alcantara on court two to get the Gators to within one of winning the match.
Tell, who is ranked No. 70 in the preseason ITA poll, provided the clincher with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Delgado. Seconds later, Ouellette ran the score to 5-0 with a 6-1, 6-1 win on court one where he making the first appearance at the top of the order of his career.
Sherry and Briceno picked up straight set wins as well as Sherry took out Sakey on court six 6-1, 6-4 and Briceno edged Wali in the first set 7-6 (5) before handling the second set, 6-0.
UF returns to the courts Friday at 3 p.m. to take on Furman before traveling to Waco, Texas for a meeting with seventh-ranked Baylor on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET. UF was defeated by Baylor in the semifinals of the 2005 NCAA Tournament in College Station, Texas.
“Furman has a hall of fame coach and will be disciplined and prepared,” said Jackson. “They will test us, which is good because Sunday the competition will go up. We will see how we handle tomorrow in continuing to prepare for the big test Sunday.”
UF vs. UCF
Singles
Greg Ouellette (UF) def. Sinan Sudas (UCF), 6-1, 6-1
Janne Holmia (UF) def. Norman Alcantara (UCF), 6-1, 6-0
Nestor Briceno (UF) def. Alamgir Wali (UCF), 7-6 (5), 6-0
No. 70 Stefan Tell (UF) def. Sebastian Delgado (UCF), 6-3, 6-1
Chris Brandi (UF) def. Tarek Ben Soltane (UCF), 6-1, 3-0 (ret.)
Ryan Sherry (UF) def. Brock Sakey (UCF), 6-1, 6-4
Order of finish: 5, 2, 4, 1, 6, 4
Doubles
Janne Holmia/Greg Ouellette (UF) def. Norman Alcantara/Sinan Sudas (UCF), 8-3
Nestor Briceno/Stefan Tell (UF) def. Alamgir Wali/Sebastian Delgado (UCF), 8-2
Chris Brandi/Ryan Sherry (UF) def. Tarek Ben Soltane/Brock Sakey (UCF), 8-5
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
