The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
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UCF
UAB Tennis Team Downs UCF, 4-3
2/23/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 23, 2008
HATTIESBURG, Miss. ----- The UAB men's tennis team won for the second straight day here Saturday, taking a 4-3 victory over UCF at the Conference USA Shootout.
The Blazers (3-1) won the doubles point and then took victories in singles at the No. 2, 4 and 6 positions. Freshman Slawomir Szeremeta provided the clinching win as he rallied for a 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 decision over the Knights' Sinan Sudas at the No. 2 spot.
"Winning the doubles point was huge again for us," said UAB head coach Derek Tarr. "We thought this would be a tight match. We played them two close matches last year, losing at the conference shootout and then winning in the (C-USA) tournament at the end of the year.
"One thing that was encouraging for us today was that we got wins in singles from a couple guys who did not play well yesterday," said Tarr. "I was really pleased to see Slawomir and Tommy (Petrich) get wins and play an important part in this victory."
Just as was the case in Friday's 4-3 win over East Carolina, winning the doubles point proved to be pivotal for UAB which can make it a perfect 3-for-3 weekend Sunday when it takes on host Southern Mississippi at 1:00 p.m. CT.
UAB grabbed a 1-0 lead by sweeping all three doubles matches. The Blazers were 8-2 winners at No. 1 doubles as Brian Ly and Hans Spangenberg downed UCF's Johan Beigart and Brock Sakey.
Tyrone Ewels and Szeremeta defeated UCF's team of Claudio Romano and Sudas, 8-5, at No. 2. The Blazers' duo of Alex Emery and Dan Cornei won at No. 3 doubles over Tarek Ben Soltane and Danny Colon, 8-4.
UAB stretched the lead to 3-0 with singles wins at No. 4 (Cornei) and 6 (Petrich). Cornei won in straight sets over Romano while Petrich won easily at No. 6 (6-0, 6-0) over Colon.
The Knights (3-4) cut the deficit with victories at the No. 1 and 5 positions. Beigart bested UAB's Spangenberg, 6-2, 6-4, at No. 1 while Soltane outlasted the Blazers' Ly in three sets, 6-2, 0-6, 6-2.
After UCF trimmed the margin to 3-2 with matches pending at No. 2 and 3 singles, UAB's Szeremeta assured the Blazer victory with his win over Sudas at No. 2. Sakey made it a 4-3 final margin as he edged past UAB's Ewels at No. 3 singles by a 6-7, 6-1, 7-6 score.
Conference USA Shootout
UAB 4, UCF 3
Singles
1. Johan Beigart (UCF) def. Hans Spangenberg (UAB) 6-2, 6-4
2. Slawomir Szeremeta (UAB) def. Sinan Sudas (UCF) 1-6, 6-1, 6-2
3. Brock Sakey (UCF) def. Tyrone Ewels (UAB) 6-7 (1), 6-1, 7-6 (2)
4. Dan Cornei (UAB) def. Claudio Romano (UCF) 6-4, 6-3
5. Tarek Ben Soltane (UCF) def. Brian Ly (UAB) 6-2, 0-6, 6-2
6. Thomas Petrich (UAB) def. Danny Colón (UCF) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles
1. Hans Spangenberg/Brian Ly (UAB) def. Brock Sakey/Johan Beigart (UCF) 8-2
2. Tyrone Ewels/Slawomir Szeremeta (UAB) def. Claudio Romano/Sinan Sudas (UCF) 8-5
3. Alex Emery/Dan Cornei (UAB) def. Tarek Ben Soltane/Danny Colón (UCF) 8-4
Records: UAB 3-1; UCF 3-4
Players Mentioned
