Men's Tennis Drops First Conference Match Against No. 19 UCF

- No. 10 Men's Tennis (15-3 overall, 0-1 Big 12) fell 3-4 to No. 19 Central Florida on the road Sunday afternoon in their conference opener.Coming off two road matches earlier this week, Arizona readied for their second match-up against the Knights this year, the first being in January at ITA Kickoff Weekend where the Cats lost 3-4.The Knights gained an early lead over the Cats after securing the doubles point with wins on courts one and three. Junior duo and 58-rankedandwere first to finish, winning 6-2 over Yassine Dlimi and Emilio Sanchez. UCF defeated No. 54and Inaki Cabrera on court one, andandon court three.In singles play, Arizona leveled the score early on with a swift win fromon court six, winning 6-3, 6-1 over Nicolas Oliveira. UCF then won on court three, where Liam Branger defeated freshman6-3, 6-3. The Knights again extended their lead with a win on court four, where Gustafsson fell 5-7, 6-7 to Paul Colin.Arizona sophomorewon 7-6(3), 6-4 over Santiago Giamichelle on court five, and No. 3 Smith won 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 on court one, making it a one point match. The win marks Smith's 100th career singles win, making him the first Wildcat ever to do so in program history. The senior captain had already set the winningest singles record back in February with 97 wins.The clinching point came down to court two, where No. 9 Friend was in a three-set battle with Mehdi Benchakroun. After battling back in the second set, Friend ultimately fell 3-6, 7-5, 6-7(4).Arizona is back in action for more Big 12 play on the road this weekend with matches against No. 2 Texas Christian University on Friday, March 21, and No. 14 Baylor on Sunday, March 23.

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