April 20, 2007

Houston, Texas - The 2007 Conference USA Men's Tennis Championship got underway with a stellar opening match as No. 4 seed UAB was pushed to the limits against No. 5 seed UCF before capturing the victory, 4-3, at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium on the campus of Rice University in Houston, Texas Friday morning.

For the second-consecutive year, UAB (13-7) will reach the semifinals of the C-USA Championship. The Blazers will face the winner of the Tulsa and East Carolina match at 12 p.m. on Saturday.

UAB 4, UCF 3

Kruno Despotovski of UAB stepped up to clinch the victory as the senior defeated sophomore Norman Alcantara of UCF, 7-6 (4), 6-3. Despotovski jumped out to a 3-0 advantage in the second set but saw Alcantara cut the led to 4-3 before breaking serve to go up 5-3 and serve for the match.

The Golden Knights (12-12) opened the match by earning the doubles points with wins at No. 1 and 3. UAB rallied back for singles wins at No. 2, 4, 5 and 6.

UCF's No. 3 doubles team of Sinan Sudas and Jimmy Roesch took out Alex Emery and Thomas Weiss of UAB 8-1, followed by teammates Alcantara and Tarek Ben Soltane defeating UAB's Despotovski and Adrian Tollstam, 8-4.

UAB junior Hanns Spangenberg defeated Soltane, a sophomore, 6-3, 6-3, at No. 2 singles to tie the score at one-all. The Blazers took the lead, 2-1, with a solid 6-1, 6-0 performance by freshman Thomas Petrich. Petrich eliminated UCF sophomore Brock Sakey at No. 6 singles. The scored was tied at two-all after the completion of No. 1 singles where Sudas moved passed UAB's Weiss, 6-4, 6-3.

At No. 5 singles, Emery gave UAB a 3-2 advantage after defeating senior Ener Gursoy, 7-6 (2), 6-3, in straight sets. In the only three-set match of the opening contest, freshman Johan Beigart defeated freshman Tim Bauer of UAB, 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 to tie the score at 3-3.

2007 Conference USA Men's Tennis Championship
Houston, Texas * Jake Hess Tennis Stadium
April 20-22, 2007

MATCH ONE QUARTERFINALS

#4 UAB (13-7), 4
#5 UCF (12-12), 3

SINGLES
1. Sinan Sudas, UCF def. Thomas Weiss, UAB, 6-4, 6-3
2. Hanns Spangenberg, UAB def. Tarek Ben Soltane, UCF, 6-3, 6-3
3. Johan Beigart, UCF def. Tim Bauer, UAB, 7-5, 2-6, 6-2
4. Kruno Despotovski, UAB def. Norman Alcantara, UCF, 7-6 (4), 6-3
5. Alex Emery, UAB def. Ener Gursoy, UCF, 7-6 (2), 6-3
6. Thomas Petrich, UAB def. Brock Sakey, UCF, 6-1, 6-0

Order of Finish: 2, 6, 1, 5, 3, 4

DOUBLES
1. Norman Alcantara/Tarek Ben Soltane, UCF def. Kruno Despotovski/Adrian Tollstam, UAB, 8-4
2. Ener Gursoy/Johan Beigart, UCF vs. Tim Bauer/Hanns Spangenberg, UAB, DNF (4-4)
3. Sinan Sudas/Jimmy Roesch, UCF def. Alex Emery/Thomas Weiss, UAB, 8-1

Order of Finish: 3, 1