Sept. 29, 2002

Winston-Salem, N.C.-Three members of the South Carolina men’s tennis team traveled to Winston-Salem, North Carolina over the weekend to take part in the Southeast Collegiate Invitational. The meet was the first competition of the fall tournament schedule for the Gamecocks.

Ben Atkinson highlighted a successful showing for USC with a first place finish in the tournament’s east flight. Atkinson began the weekend with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Danilo Mendes of UNC- Wilmington. In the second round, Atkinson kept things rolling with another straight set victory, winning 6-3, 6-1 over UNC-Greensboro’s Marc-Andre LaDoucuer. The sophomore from England continued his dominance in the semifinal round with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Patrick Fillnow of Furman. Atkinson capped the weekend by topping Brett Ross of Wake Forest 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 to claim the title.

No.37 Angelo Niculescu and Rob Cassidy were also in action over the weekend. Niculescu advanced to the semifinals before falling to Wake Forest’s Trent Brendon 6-4, 6-4. Niculescu defeated Tony Epkey of West Virginia in the opening round, 6-1, 6-3. Niculescu’s second victory came against Virginia Tech’s Andreas Lavland 6-4, 7-5. Cassidy’s lone victory over the weekend was a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Doug Omsby of Appalachian State.

The South Carolina men’s tennis team will be back in action on October 10th when three members of the squad will travel to Chattanooga, Tennessee for the All-American Championships. The remaining players will take part in the Georgia Tech Invitational in Atlanta, Georgia beginning October 11th.

For complete tournament results visit Wake Forest’s official website at www.wakeforestsports.com