Feb. 18, 2012

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Marco Stancati and the Miami Hurricanes earned a great win this afternoon at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center. The team took down the University of South Florida Bulls 5-2.

“I’m really proud of the guys. It was a hard fought match,” said coach Mario Rincon. “We knew USF would be a tough challenge for us.”

Stancati, a junior, won the clinching match for the Canes as he defeated USF’s Oliver Pramming in a third set tiebreaker. He won the match 6-2, 4-6 and 7-6.

“This was a terrific win against a very tough, well-coached, USF team,” added assistant coach Mark Dickson. “I was so proud that our guys fought back after doubles and were able to pull it out in singles.”

The Canes got off to that slow start as they lost the doubles point by losing two of three matches. Victor Mauz and Stancati earned the team’s lone doubles win against Juan Carlos Acuna Gerard and Ravi Patel in a match that ended 8-3.

Things turned around quickly for Miami once the singles matches began. They won the first four and five out six singles matches.

Sophomore Omar Aly earned the Canes first point of the day in the No. 2 singles position. He defeated Federico Sabogal in straight sets 6-4 and 6-2.

“After losing the doubles point, everyone fought really hard,” said Aly. “ We won four in a row and we bounced right back. Everyone did what they need to do to get the win.”

Gabriel Flores added the next victory for the team defeating USF’s Yannick Yoshizawa at the No. 1 position. He won in straight sets 6-3 and 7-5.

“The team fought really hard today,” said Flores. “We prepared really well and outplayed USF in this match.”

Diego Soto and Victor Mauz earned the other two points for Miami. Soto defeated Lucas Marin-Salcedo in straight sets 7-5 and 6-4. Mauz defeated Patel 5-7, 6-4, and 6-4.

“We are a team that is still improving and we will benefit greatly from this match,” added Rincon. “We are looking forward to playing our next three home matches.”

Also in attendance were many UM alumni including Hector Nieto, Carl Sundberg, Keith Crowley, Waylon Chin, Z Weiko and Barnabas Carrega.

Following Saturday’s match versus USF, the Hurricanes will now host three consecutive home games against UCF on Fri., Feb. 24 at 2 p.m., North Florida on Sun., Feb. 26 at 10 a.m., and ACC foe No. 32 Florida State on Sun., March 4, at 3:30 p.m.

For more information on the University of Miami men’s tennis team, please log on to HurricaneSports.com. To follow the UM Men’s Tennis Team via twitter, please visit Twitter.com/CanesMensTennis.

Fans can keep up-to-date with all UM Athletics via twitter at Twitter.com/HurricaneSports. You can also become a fan of the Canes on Facebook at Facebook.com/MiamiHurricanes.

Singles

Gabriel Flores (UM) def. Yannick Yoshizawa (USF) 6-3, 7-5

Omar Aly (UM) def. Federico Sabogal (USF) 6-4, 6-2

Juan Carlos Acuna Gerard (USF) def. Henrique Tsukamoto (UM) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4

Diego Soto (UM) def. Lucas Marin-Salcedo (USF) 7-5, 6-4

Victor Mauz (UM) def. Ravi Patel (USF) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4

Marco Stancati (UM) def. Oliver Pramming (USF) 6-2, 4-6, 7-6

 

Doubles

Oliver Pramming/Yannick Yoshizawa (USF) def. Gabriel Flores/Diego Soto (UM) 8-6

Wael Kilani/Lucas Marin-Salcedo (USF) def. Omar Aly/Santiago Nieto (UM) 8-4

Victor Mauz/Marco Stancati (UM) def. Juan Carlos Acuna Gerard/Ravi Patel (USF) 8-3