Feb. 12, 2007

The University of South Carolina men’s tennis team will face its toughest test of the early season on Wednesday, Feb. 14, when it hosts No. 26 Wake Forest at the USC Indoor Fieldhouse in Columbia. Match time is set for 2 p.m. and live updates will be available on USCsports.com.

South Carolina brings a 6-0 record into the match and is coming off a pair of wins on Sunday. The Gamecocks shut out Charlotte, 7-0, and defeated Davidson, 5-2, in a doubleheader at home. The Gamecocks are ranked No. 39 in the most recent ITA Poll, released on Feb. 6.

In the six dual matches, the Gamecocks have a combined record of 32-3 in singles and a 13-3 mark in doubles. Junior Yevgeny Supeko and freshman Ivan Cressoni lead the squad with 6-0 singles records. Against Charlotte, Supeko picked up his first win of the spring against a ranked opponent. Supeko earned a 6-4, 6-2, victory over No. 39 Roy Sichel. Supeko has combined with freshman Pedro Campos to form Carolina’s No. 1 doubles team. The duo has won seven straight matches, including a 6-0 record in dual play, and posted an 11-1 mark overall.

Redshirt sophomore Thomas Stoddard (4-0) and freshman David Wolff (5-0) are also unbeaten in singles dual matches. Campos leads South Carolina overall with a 15 singles wins.

Junior Jaime Cuellar, a 2006 second-team all-SEC who was projected to play near the top of South Carolina’s singles lineup, has been lost for the season due to injury. Cuellar hurt his knee during a match against Charleston Southern (Feb. 4) and will have season-ending surgery.

The Gamecocks and Demon Deacons have met 28 times, including a stretch of 19 consecutive seasons dating back to 1988. South Carolina holds a 24-4 advantage in the all-time series. On Feb. 28, 2006, USC went to Winston-Salem, N.C., and pulled off one of its biggest upsets of the season. Wake Forest was ranked No. 13 at the time of the match, but Carolina came away with a 4-3 win.

Wake comes into Wednesday’s match with a 7-1 record, its only blemish a 4-3 loss to No. 13 Virginia Commonwealth. Last weekend, the Demon Deacons defeated No. 45 East Tennessee State and No. 31 Minnesota.