TEMPE, Ari. (February 4, 2007) ? Wrapping up its two-match road trip in Arizona with a neutral site contest against No. 70 UC Santa Barbara, the University of South Florida men's tennis team fell to the Gauchos 5-2 on Sun., Feb. 4.

The Bulls (1-2) amassed both points in singles action, with freshmen Henning Hipp and Diego Toledo taking straight set victories at positions one and five, respectively.

USF failed to capture the doubles point for the second consecutive match, with all three teams being swept by UCSB (1-1).  The newcomer tandem of Mahmoud Hamed and Thomas Estrada suffered their second defeat in doubles since joining the team this spring.  The pair was competing from the No. 1 spot for the first time this season, but was upended by Jack Hui and Anders Dalskov, 8-6.

Both players also fell in singles action, ruining Hamed's perfect spring record and handing Estrada only his second loss as a singles player and first of the competitive head-to-head schedule.

Toledo, meanwhile, improved his singles record to 3-0 on the year with a 6-4, 6-2 defeat of UCSB's Elad Stern at the No. 5 spot. 

The men's team will return to Tampa for a five-match home stand, beginning Fri., Feb. 9th against the No. 10 Miami Hurricanes at 2 pm.  Admission to the USF Varsity Tennis Courts is free.

No. 70 UCSB 5, USF 2

Doubles
1) - Hui/Dalskov (UCSB) def. Hamed/Estrada (USF) - 8-6
2) - Hejazi/Nigel Barton (UCSB) def. Hipp/Daudt (USF) - 8-5
3) - Therp/Josh Finkelstein (UCSB) def. Jaeger/Toledo (USF) - 8-6

Singles
1) - Henning Hipp (USF) def. Bijan Hejazi (UCSB) - 6-2, 6-3
2) - Jack Hui (UCSB) def. Mahmoud Hamed (USF) - 6-4, 6-3
3) - Philip Therp (UCSB) def. Mark Jaeger (USF) - 6-3, 7-6
4) - Anders Dalskov (UCSB) def. Thomas Estrada (USF) - 7-6, 7-6
5) - Diego Toledo (USF) def. Elad Stern (UCSB) - 6-4, 6-2
6) - Max Taylor (UCSB) def. Daniel Daudt (USF) - 6-1, 6-4