MTennis Opens Play at Home Against UCF

Coral Gables, Fla. – After four straight road matches, the No. 64 University of Miami men’s tennis team will make their home debut hosting UCF on Friday, Feb. 1 at 2 p.m. at the Neill Schiff Tennis Center. The Hurricanes are currently 2-2 on the spring season.

The Canes are coming off a pair of dual matches last weekend in the ITA Kickoff Weekend event in Columbus, Ohio. After earning a hard-fought victory over No. 71 Louisiana-Lafayette, 4-3, UM endured a tough loss against No. 4 Ohio State, 7-0, in the tournament’s championship match.

The Hurricanes had an early 0-3 deficit against Louisiana-Lafayette, but responded with four straight singles wins to advance to the championship match.

Junior Diego Soto secured the first singles win, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3, followed by a straight sets victory from William Albanese, 6-2, 7-5, at the No. 6 position. Gabriel Flores went three sets with his opponent before winning, 7-6, 1-6, 6-4, setting up Wilfredo Gonzalez for a 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 victory that won the match for Miami.

Against Ohio State, the Canes couldn’t quite get rolling. The Buckeyes took the doubles point in the No. 2 and No. 3 positions before winning six straight singles matches to secure the win.

UCF traveled to Gainesville to battle No. 12 Florida in the ITA Kickoff Weekend tournament. The Knights lost, 7-0, to the Gators for their second straight defeat, dropping their record to 1-2.

Following Friday’s match against UCF, Miami will have a short turnaround before hosting No. 54 Rice on Sunday, Feb. 3 at 11 a.m. at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.

For more information on the University of Miami men’s tennis team, log on to HurricaneSports.com. To follow the UM men’s tennis team socially, visit Twitter.com/CanesMensTennis and facebook.com/MiamiHurricanesMensTennis.