March 9, 2003

Columbia, S.C. – No. 14 USC defeated No. 20 Arkansas, 4-2, on Sunday at the Sam Daniel Tennis Center. With the win, the Gamecocks swept their SEC competition this weekend and improved to 10-1 overall and 3-1 in the league.

“Every SEC match is the same,” said head coach Kent DeMars, who notched his 502nd career coaching victory. “All the conference matches seem to go down to the wire because there is little separation between the teams. We are confident that we can win the close ones on our home court.”

South Carolina swept the doubles point with impressive victories at No. 1 and No. 2. Marcus Westman and Tom Eklund won their No. 1 match 8-4 while Seth Rose and Carl Wermee toppled the competition by an 8-3 count. USC was leading the No. 3 doubles match, 7-6, before Angelo Niculescu and Geraldo Knorr’s lead was suspended when the point was clinched.

Niculescu swept Aleksey Bubis at No. 2 singles, 6-3, 6-3, while Ben Atkinson won his match at No. 6 in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4 to give USC a 3-0 lead.

Arkansas fought back by winning the No. 4 and No. 3 singles matches to draw within 3-2.

Wermee emerged victorious at No. 5 with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 clinching win for the Gamecocks.

South Carolina travels to Las Vegas where they will return to the courts on March 12 at UNLV. USC returns to conference action next Sunday, March 16, with a match at Kentucky.

No. 14 SOUTH CAROLINA (10-1, 3-1) 4, No. 20 Arkansas (10-6, 2-3) 2
DoublesNo. 1: Westman/Eklund (USC) def. Bubis/Roberts (UA), 8-4No. 2: Rose/Wermee (USC), def. Pacheco/Zguns (UA), 8-3No. 3: Niculescu/Knorr (USC) led Gajjar/Parker (UA), 7-6, susp.
USC wins doubles point, leads 1-0
SinglesNo. 2: Niculescu (USC) def. Pacheco (UA), 6-3, 6-3; USC 2-0No. 6: Atkinson (USC) def. Benson (UA), 6-3, 6-4; USC 3-0No. 4: Gajjar (UA) def. Eklund (USC), 6-3, 7-6; USC 3-1No. 3: Zguns (UA) def. Westman (USC), 6-2, 2-6, 7-5; USC 3-2*No. 5: Wermee (USC) def. Roberts (UA), 6-4, 2-6, 6-2; USC 4-2No. 1: Bubis (UA) led Rose (USC), 7-6, 1-6, 5-4, susp.
*clinching win