Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The road proved to be a rocky one for the University of North Florida men's tennis team over the weekend when the Ospreys dropped a pair of 5-2 decisions at UCF and Florida Atlantic.
UNF (2-2) notched both points in its match at UCF (2-1) in singles play, notching straight-set wins at the No. 1 and No. 6 spots.
“I feel like we went into the match at UCF with a lot of respect for our opponent,” UNF head coach Igal Buberman said. “Not to take any merit from UCF, but I feel like our young team beat itself in some ways on Saturday.”
The Knights captured all three doubles matches before junior Federico Levi knocked off Tarek Ben Soltane 6-1, 6-1 in the top singles spot to give UNF its first point of the match. The Ospreys hung tough in the first set of the Nos. 2-5 singles slots but fell 6-4 in the opening set of each match.
Freshman Marc Misanovic' lost the second set of his No. 2 singles match 6-0 to Johan Beigart and junior Kurt Gattiker fell 6-1 to Marc Rocafort in set number two of the third spot. Freshman Marcos Chiaretti, who is No. 20 in the latest International Tennis Association Southeast Singles Rankings, and junior Ronnie Sang both dropped their final set by a score of 6-2.
Sophomore Graham Edgar earned the Ospreys' second point of the match with a two-set win over Danny Colon. After taking a 6-4 opening set win, Edgar eased to the victory in the second set, 6-0.
“Our team must realize that our performance and results come from our mental strength just as much as from our physical abilities,” Buberman said. “We played with better intensity on Sunday against Florida Atlantic and knew that it would be a hard-fought match.”
The Ospreys had the upper hand early after Misanovic' and Levi opened doubles play with an 8-5 win over Eddie Majcher and Marc Abdelnour. Florida Atlantic (4-2) leveled doubles play with a 9-7 win on court two and stole the doubles point by the same score in the third position.
Levi played the only singles match not decided in straight sets, forcing Abdelnour to the third set by taking set number two 6-4 after slipping 6-2 in the first set. Abdelnour notched the win with a 6-2 closing-set mark.
Chiaretti (No. 5) and Edgar (No. 6) accounted for UNF's two points in the match. Chiaretti moved past Santiago Nieto 6-0, 6-3 and Edgar was a 6-2, 6-2 winner against Majcher.
“We've got a little time off now and we will use it like another preseason,” Buberman said. “We need to regroup and learn how to play to win instead of being timid and reactive.”
UNF's break will last a little less than two weeks and comes to an end when the Ospreys begin a five-match homestand with a Valentine's Day (Feb. 14) contest against Troy at the UNF Tennis Complex.
