April 16, 2002

Belton, S.C. – Moving to a perfect 11-0 against non-conference opponents, South Carolina’s No. 21 ranked men’s tennis team capped a stellar regular season with a sweep of Clemson on Tuesday, at the Belton Tennis Center in Belton, South Carolina. The win marks Carolina’s eighth consecutive victory over Clemson and ninth shutout victory of the season. USC now leads the all-time series with Clemson 38-30. With the win, Carolina finishes the regular season 15-7. Clemson falls to 11-17.

The doubles team of Angelo Niculescu and Marcus Westman set the tone for the Gamecocks, winning 8-3 out of the No.1 doubles position over Marko Gojanovic and Sander Koning. Ben Atkinson and David Nelson kept pace playing out of the No. 3 position with an 8-5 victory over Goran Sterijoyski and Damisa Robinson. Seth Rose and Carl Wermee were deadlocked at 5-5 at No. 2 when the doubles point was clinched by the Gamecocks.

In singles play the Gamecocks picked up right where they left off, winning all six matches to claim the 7-0 win. #55 Seth Rose dismantled Goran Sterijoyski, 6-4, 6-2, in the No. 1 position to get things rolling in singles play. #75 Angelo Niculescu followed suit with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Jamin Thompson out of the No.2 position. #90 Marcus Westman won at No. 3 by a score of 7-6, 6-4 over Damisa Robinson. At No. 4, David Nelson kept things rolling with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 victory over Sander Koning. Carl Wermee joined in out of the No. 5 position claiming a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Marko Gojanovic. Rodrigo Pacheco closed out the Gamecocks sweep with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win in position No.6.

South Carolina returns to the courts Thursday afternoon at the SEC Championships in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Gamecocks open the tournament against Arkansas. USC will be trying to avenge a tough 4-3 loss suffered at Arkansas on March 10th earlier this season. USC leads the all-time series 7-5.

Match Results

USC 7, Clemson 0

Doubles:

1) Westman/Niculescu (USC) d. Gojanovic/Koning 8-3 2) Rose/Wermee (USC) vs. Sterijovski/Robinson 5- 5 susp. 3) Nelson/Atkinson (USC) d. M.Thompson/Skinner 8- 5

Singles:

1) #55 Seth Rose (USC) d. Goran Sterijoyski 6-4, 6-2 2) #75 Angelo Niculescu (USC) d. Jamin Thompson 6-4, 6-1 3) #90 Marcus Westman (USC) d. Damisa Robinson 7-6, 6-4 4) David Nelson (USC) d. Sander Koning 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 5) Carl Wermee (USC) d. Marko Gojanovic 6-4, 6-2 6) Rodrigo Pacheco (USC) d. Micah Thompson 3-6, 6-3,6-3