March 7, 2003

Columbia, S.C. – No. 14 USC defeated No. 21 LSU, 4-3, Friday at the Indoor Tennis Facility. The Gamecocks improved to 9-1 on the season and 2-1 in conference play ahead of Sunday’s match with No. 20 Arkansas.

LSU won the doubles point with victories at No. 1 and No. 2. USC won the No. 3 match when Angelo Niculescu and Geraldo Knorr defeated Peter Richman and Paul White 8-5.

The Gamecocks opened singles play with a 6-0, 6-1 victory by Marcus Westman at No. 3. USC took a 2-1 overall lead when Niculescu defeated 47th-ranked Richman 2-6, 7-6 (7-0), 6-2 at No. 2 singles.

After LSU knotted the score at two, USC regained the lead in dramatic fashion when Seth Rose defeated Jason Hazley at No. 1 in a fierce battle. Rose won the first set 7-6 (8-6), then fell 6-4 in set two before staging an impressive comeback in the deciding set, twice avoiding match point on his way to a 7-5 victory.

Ben Atkinson notched the clinching win for the Gamecocks when he defeated Cory Ross at No. 6, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2.

South Carolina returns to the courts on Sunday with a 1 p.m. match vs. No. 20 Arkansas at the Sam Daniel Tennis Center in Columbia.

No. 14 SOUTH CAROLINA (9-1, 2-1) 4, No. 21 LSU (7-3, 1-2) 3
DoublesNo. 1: Hazley/Fisher (LSU) def. Westman/Eklund (USC), 8-5No. 2: Ross/Rutka (LSU) def. Rose/Wermee (USC), 8-4No. 3: Niculescu/Knorr (USC) def. Richman/White (LSU), 8-5
LSU wins doubles point, leads 1-0
SinglesNo. 3: Westman (USC) def. Rutka (LSU), 6-0, 6-1; Tied 1-1No. 2: Niculescu (USC) def. #47 Richman (LSU), 2-6, 7-6 (7-0), 6-2; USC 2-1No. 4: Fisher (LSU) def. Eklund (USC), 7-6 (8-6), 6-7 (2-7), 6-2; Tied 2-2No. 1: Rose (USC) def. Hazley (LSU), 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 7-5; USC 3-2*No. 6: Atkinson (USC) def. Ross (LSU), 6-3, 1-6, 6-2; USC 4-2No. 5: White (LSU) def. Wermee (USC), 7-6, 4-6, 7-5; USC 4-3
*clinching win