Feb. 4, 2006
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The No. 11 University of South Carolina men’s tennis team defeated Appalachian State, 5-2, and Elon, 6-1, on Saturday inside the USC Fieldhouse in Columbia. The Gamecocks ran their record to 4-0 on the season with the pair of victories.
ASU fell to 1-1 on the year. Elon leaves Columbia with an 0-2 record for the season. South Carolina improved to 114-4 all-time against teams from the Southern Conference.
Carolina is back in action with another doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 10. The Gamecocks play host to Charlotte at 10 a.m. before entertaining Davidson in a 2 p.m. match. Weather permitting both matches will be played at the Sam Daniels Tennis Facility. In case of inclement weather, the matches will be moved inside to the USC Fieldhouse.
South Carolina 5, Appalachian State 2
The Gamecocks swept the Mountaineers in doubles play. At the No. 1 spot, Carolina’s Geraldo Knorr and Pedro Rodrigues topped Alex Probst and Ryan Brookshaw, 8-4. Tom Eklund and Jaime Cullear made quick work of the Mountaineers’ Dimitar Dimitrov and Andrew Waters, 8-0. On court three in the No. 3 doubles spot, Yevgeny Supeko and Thomas Stoddard earned an 8-3 victory over Andrew Taylor and Robert Hogewood.
In singles play, Supeko gave up just a single game in a 6-0-, 6-1, over Taylor at No. 4. Cuellar rolled past Waters, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 3. At the No. 2 singles spot, Rodrigues went down with an injury in the second set of his match against Brookshaw. The injury forced him to withdraw, giving Appalachian State the point. Rodrigues held the lead, 6-2, 2-1, when he went down.
Eklund clinched the victory for USC with his 6-2, 6-2 decision over Probst. Knorr also picked up a decisive win at No. 5 singles, defeating Taylor, 6-2, 6-0. At No.6 singles, ASU’s Zach Williams defeated Adam Adler, 6-2, 6-4.
DoublesNo. 1 Geraldo Knorr/Pedro Rodrigues (SC) def. Alex Probst/Ryan Brookshaw (ASU) 8-4No. 2 Jaime Cuellar/Tom Eklund (SC) def. Dimitar Dimitrov/Andrew Waters (ASU) 8-0No. 3 Yevgeny Supeko/Thomas Stoddard (SC) def. Andrew Taylor/Robert Hogewood (ASU), 8-3
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
SinglesNo. 1 Tom Eklund (SC) def. Alex Probst (ASU), 6-2, 6-2No. 2 Ryan Brookshaw (ASU) def. Pedro Rodrigues (SC), Injury defaultNo. 3 Jaime Cuellar (SC) def. Dimitar Dimitrov (ASU), 6-1, 6-1No. 4 Yevgeny Supeko (SC) def. Andrew Waters (ASU), 6-1, 6-0No. 5 Geraldo Knorr (SC) def. Andrew Taylor (ASU), 6-2, 6-0No. 6 Zach Williams (ASU) def. Adam Adler (SC), 6-2, 6-4
Order of finish: 4, 3, 2, 1*, 5, 6
South Carolina 6, Elon 1
The Gamecocks’ match with Elon featured a pair of tight battles in doubles play. Carolina took the early advantage as Eklund and Cuellar polished off an 8-0 win, for the second time today, over Sebastian Bredberg and Gustaf Asplund. At the No. 3 spot, sophomore Joe Veeder and Thomas Stoddard gutted out an 8-6 win over Kevin Colin and Kyle Smialek to clinch the doubles point for Carolina. Veeder, playing in his first collegiate dual match for the Gamecocks, stepped into a shuffled Carolina lineup after Pedro Rodrigues injured an ankle in the early match against Appalachian State. Stoodard picked up his second doubles win of the day.
With Rodrigues out, Supeko joined Knorr at No. 1 doubles. The tandem fought back from a 7-6 deficit and won three straight games to take the match, 9-7, over Damon Gooch and Austin Fenn.
Carolina breezed to singles victories at the No. 2, 3, 4 and 6 spots. Supeko beat Bredberg, 6-2, 6-2, at the second slot and Cuellar downed Fenn, 6-3, 6-3, at the third position. Playing at No. 4, Eklund finished off Asplund, 6-2, 6-3, while Stoddard knocked off Kevin Beard, 6-1, 6-2, in the sixth position.
At No. 1 singles, Knorr and Gooch played a marathon match. Gooch claimed the first set by way of a tie break, 7-3. Knorr rebounded with a 6-2 win in the second set, sending the match to a 10-point tie break to decide the third set and match winner. The Gamecock senior rallied from 5-2 down and won six straight points to go ahead 8-5. He went on to win, 10-8.
DoublesNo. 1 Yevgeny Supeko/Geraldo Knorr (SC) def. Damon Gooch/Austin Fenn (E), 9-7No. 2 Tom Eklund/Jaime Cuellar (SC) def. Sebastian Bredberg/Gustaf Asplund (E), 8-0No. 3 Thomas Stoddard/Joe Veeder (SC) def. Kevin Colin/Kyle Smialek (E), 8-6
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
SinglesNo. 1 Geraldo Knorr (SC) def. Damon Gooch (E), 6-7 (3), 6-2, 1-0 (8)No. 2 Yevgeny Supeko (SC) def. Sebastian Bredberg (E), 6-2, 6-2No. 3 Jaime Cuellar (SC) def. Austin Fenn (E), 6-2, 6-2No. 4 Tom Eklund (SC) def. Gustaf Asplund (E), 6-2, 6-3No. 5 Kevin Colin (E) def. Adam Adler (SC), 6-4, 6-1No. 6 Thomas Stoddard (SC) def. Kevin Beard (E), 6-1, 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 4*, 1, 6, 5*clinched match
