Nov. 2, 2005

Columbia, S.C. – The South Carolina men’s tennis team will wrap up its fall season this weekend with a preview of some of its biggest Southeastern Conference rivals at the annual Bulldog Scramble in Athens, Ga. Joining the Gamecocks at the Nov. 4-6 tournament will be host Georgia, Eastern Division rival Kentucky and defending SEC co-champions Ole Miss and Florida.

USC will be led in the tournament by senior Geraldo Knorr, who has posted a combined 14-5 record in fall play this season. Knorr, a native of Brazil, has already upset one ranked singles player, defeating No. 34 Oscar Posada of East Tennessee State in straight sets at the Southern Intercollegiate in Athens in October. Knorr has also gone 8-2 in doubles play, including a run through the USC Fall Invitational where he and sophomore Jaime Cuellar captured the top-flight doubles title. Knorr will be joined at the tournament by fellow seniors Adam Adler and Kazuya Otani, as well as sophomore Joe Veeder and redshirt freshman Thomas Stoddard. Junior Dmitry Babenko (back) may join the group, but is injured and will be a last minute decision for Carolina.

The Bulldog Scramble is a non-bracketed tournament, featuring the five schools competing head-to-head in a format similar to the dual match season. The players who lose will not be knocked out of the competition, they will continue to play as the teams go through the round-robin event.

Following the tournament the Gamecocks will take a break from competition for the remainder of the fall semester. Their next event will be the 2006 SEC Coaches Indoor Championships, Jan. 20-23. The tournament, which kicks off the 2006 spring dual match season, is the final individual event until the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships in May and will be hosted by the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Ky.