March 29, 2002

Columbia, SC –
South Carolina’s men’s tennis team rallied from an early deficit to claim a 5-2 victory over the Auburn Tigers on Friday at the Sam Daniel Tennis Center. The win bumps USC to 13-3 on the year, 4-3 in SEC play.

Auburn opened up the match by claiming the doubles point with wins in two of the three doubles contests. Picking up the lone doubles victory for the Gamecocks was the team of Ben Atkinson and David Nelson.

Auburn continued to dominate the match as singles play began, picking up a victory in the first singles contest to pull ahead 2-0. South Carolina countered with five consecutive victories to close the match and give the Gamecocks their thirteenth win of the season. Singles winners for the Gamecocks included Seth Rose, who won an emotional three-set contest against No. 19 Rameez Junaid. Angelo Niculescu and Marcus Westman also claimed victories over nationally ranked opponents. Westman’s win over No. 34 Tiago Ruffoni improved the sophomore from Sweden to 16-0 in dual match play. David Nelson and Carl Wermee picked up the remaining USC victories on the day.

The Gamecocks will be back in action Sunday afternoon for a 1:00 p.m. contest against Alabama. The match will be USC’s final home contest of the 2002 season.

Match Results

USC 5, Auburn 2

Singles:

No. 1 #61 Seth Rose (USC) d. #19 Rameez Junaid 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
No. 2 Angelo Niculescu (USC) d. #82 Andrew Colombo 7-5, 3-6, 6-4
No. 3 Marcus Westman (USC) d. #34 Tiago Ruffoni 4-6, 7-5, 6-4
No. 4 David Nelson d. Mark Kovacs 6-3, 4-6, 6-0
No. 5 Carl Wermee (USC) d. Mark Van Elder 6-7, 6-3, 6-1
No. 6 Estevam Strecker d. Rodrigo Pacheco (USC) 6-4, 6-3

Doubles:

No. 1 #30 Junaid/Ruffoni d. #49 Niculescu/Westman (USC) 8-3
No. 2 #25 Colombo/Kovacs d. Rose/Wermee(USC) 8-5
No. 3 Atkinson/Nelson (USC) d. Boz/Strecker 8-3