Pirate Tennis Nips UCF, Sets Record

April 5, 2009

GREENVILLE, N.C. - East Carolina and UCF split six singles matches but the Pirates used a pivotal 9-8 doubles point-clinching victory by Aleksey Kochetov and Henrik Skalmerud in a No. 2 battle for a 4-3 win over the Knights in final day action of the Conference USA Shootout Sunday afternoon at the ECU Tennis Complex.

The triumph enabled the Pirates (17-2) to establish a new program record for single-season victories, surpassing the previous mark of 16 that was earlier set in 1957 and 2000. UCF fell to 10-9 with the setback.

The Knights tallied first as Johan Beigart and Blaze Schwartz teamed up for an 8-4 win over Denis Ermilov and Jaroslav Horvath at the No. 1 position. East Carolina evened the doubles ledger moments later when Bryan Oakley and Stephen Whitwell posted an 8-6 victory over Eugene Dolgovykh and Marc Rocafort in a No. 3 meeting before Kochetov and Skalmerud outlasted Tarek Ben Soltane and Joe Delinks to help the Pirates take a 1-0 lead.

In singles play, ECU picked up wins at the No. 2, No. 5 and No. 6 slots as Horvath dismissed Ben Soltane (7-5, 6-0), Kochetov rallied past Delinks (3-6, 6-3, 6-4) and Oakley defeated Dolgovykh (6-3, 7-5).

UCF used a 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory by Rocafort over Whitwell at No. 1 and a pair of straight-set triumphs at the No. 3 and No. 4 slots to account for its three points.

East Carolina, which matched the Knights with a 2-1 Shootout record over the weekend, will return to non-conference play Thursday when it hosts Elon beginning at 3 p.m.

NO. 70 EAST CAROLINA 4, UCF 3
Singles Play
No. 1 - Marc Rocafort (UCF) def. Stephen Whitwell (ECU); 3-6, 6-1, 6-0
No. 2 - Jaroslav Horvath (ECU) def. Tarek Ben Soltane (UCF); 7-5, 6-0
No. 3 - Blaze Schwartz (UCF) def. Henrik Skalmerud (ECU); 6-2, 6-4
No. 4 - Johan Beigart (UCF) def. Denis Ermilov (ECU); 6-3, 6-3
No. 5 - Aleksey Kochetov (ECU) def. Joe Delinks (UCF); 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
No. 6 - Bryan Oakley (ECU) def. Eugene Dolgovykh (UCF); 6-3, 7-5
Doubles Play
No. 1 - Beigart/Schwartz (UCF) def. Ermilov/Horvath (ECU); 8-4
No. 2 - Kochetov/Skalmerud (ECU) def. Ben Soltane/Delinks (UCF); 9-8
No. 3 - Oakley/Whitwell (ECU) def. Dolgovykh/Rocafort (UCF); 8-6
Team Records: UCF 10-9, East Carolina 17-2

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