DeLand, Fla. - The Stetson men's tennis team (2-1) was saddled with its first loss of the 2010 season, dropping a 5-2 decision to visiting UCF (2-1) at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center. Sophomore Maksim Levanovich (Minsk, Belarus) remained undefeated on the season with singles and doubles victories.
Levanovich teamed with sophomore Cesare Gallo (Portogruaro, Italy) to beat Joe DeLinks and Johan Beigart 8-4 at #2 doubles; when senior Mark Mestan (Cologne, Germany) and sophomore Njal Stene (Oslo, Norway) did likewise to Brock Sakey and Claudio Romano at the #3 position Stetson took a 1-0 lead over the Knights. Freshman Didrik Berg (Oslo, Norway) and sophomore Chris Swanteson (Vaxjo, Sweden) put up an excellent effort against nationally 21st-ranked Marc Rocafort and Blaze Schwartz at #1 doubles, battling to an 8-6 loss.
UCF overcame the Hatters in three different third sets or tiebreakers in singles to swing the final outcome in its favor. Levanovich was Stetson's lone singles winner, dropping Nino Hasandedic 6-0, 6-3 in the #2 position.
Stetson returns to the courts Friday, February 19 in a rescheduled match at #31 Miami (Fla.). The Hatters and Hurricanes face off at 2 p.m. in Coral Gables.
