Feb. 28, 2005

Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina’s men’s tennis team will renew one of its oldest rivalries on Tuesday, March 1, when they travel to Atlanta to take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. This will be the 31st meeting between the two schools, and the 14th contest in Atlanta. Carolina (9-2, 0-0 SEC) has won 13 of the last 16 matches between the schools, however they dropped last season’s meeting with the Yellow Jackets (5-2, 0-0 ACC). 2005 marks the 20th consecutive season the two teams have played one another.

The Gamecocks and Yellow Jackets are both coming off of tough losses. USC lost its first home match of the season on Saturday, falling 5-2 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The match was closer than the score showed however, as four of the six singles matches went to three sets and No. 1 and 2 doubles were decided by scores of 9-7 and 8-6 respectively. The four three-set singles matches were the most in a contest for Carolina since they played four in a 4-3 home defeat to Kentucky in March of 2004.

Georgia Tech is coming off of a 4-3 loss to unbeaten Auburn on Saturday. The Yellow Jackets won the doubles point, and won singles matches at Nos. 3 and 6 singles, before losing the deciding match at No. 1 singles in three sets.

Carolina has been led by the play of freshman Jaime Cuellar, who is a perfect 10-0 in singles this spring. Cuellar, a native of El Salvador, has won 11 straight singles matches dating back to the SEC Coaches Indoor Championships in January. He boasts a 16-6 record on the year and has won 13 of his last 14 matches. Cuellar’s 10 singles wins to start a dual match season mark the best start to a career on record at South Carolina. His doubles season has been just as much of a success, as he holds 9-2 spring record and a 16-7 record for the year.

Tuesday’s match against Georgia Tech is the final non-conference tilt for USC before the start of their SEC schedule. Carolina will step out of conference three more times this season: at UNLV on March 9, vs. Wake Forest on March 22, and against in-state rival Clemson on April 6. The 43rd-ranked Gamecocks will return to Columbia on Friday, March 4, to open their SEC schedule against Arkansas at 2 p.m. They will wrap up the weekend when they host LSU on Sunday, March 6, at 10 a.m. Both matches will take place at the Sam Daniel Tennis Center and are open and free to the public. The courts are located on Heyward St., between Sumter and Marion, and adjacent to Sarge Frye Field.