March 26, 2003

Columbia, S.C. – No. 18 South Carolina defeated No. 30 Clemson, 4-3, recording its ninth-straight victory over the rival Tigers. The men’s tennis team holds USC’s longest active winning streak against Clemson, dating back to 1995. USC improves to 13-2 on the season and extends its home match winning streak to eight.

“It is great to get a win against Clemson, no matter what sport you play them in,” said head coach Kent DeMars, who has won 13 of 15 matches against the Tigers. “We knew they were a very good team coming in with 18 wins. A couple of our guys were out of the lineup today but we proved to be the better team. We are tickled to death to get this win.”

USC won the doubles point with an 8-6 victory at No. 2 by Seth Rose and Ben Atkinson and a 9-8 triumph at No. 3 by Angelo Niculescu and Geraldo Knorr.

Rose won his match at No. 1 singles, 6-3, 6-2 over Nathan Thompson while the Swedish duo of teammates Marcus Westman and Tom Eklund won their matches to get the Gamecocks the victory. Westman won 6-1, 3-6, 7-6, over Sander Koning at No. 3 and Eklund defeated Jarmaine Jenkins 6-2, 7-6 at No. 4.

Carolina has won 10 of its last 11 matches against Clemson and improves to 23-12 against the Tigers in Columbia. The Gamecocks hold a 39-30 lead in the all-time series.

USC resumes SEC action this weekend with a Friday match at 29 Auburn before traveling to Tuscaloosa for a Sunday match at No. 16 Alabama.

No. 18 SOUTH CAROLINA (13-2) 4, No. 30 Clemson (18-7) 3DoublesNo. 1: Nathan Thompson/Jarmaine Jenkins (CU) def. Marcus Westman/Tom Eklund (USC), 8-5No. 2: Seth Rose/Ben Atkinson (USC), def. Damiisa Robinson and John Boetsch (CU), 8-6No. 3: Angelo Niculescu/Geraldo Knorr (USC) def. Brett Twente/Sander Koning (CU), 9-8
USC wins doubles point
SinglesNo. 1: Rose (USC) def. N. Thompson (CU), 6-3, 6-2.No. 2: Koning (CU) def. Niculescu (USC), 6-4, 6-3.No. 3: Westman (USC) def. Jenkins (CU), 6-1, 3-6, 7-6.No. 4: Tom Eklund (USC) def. Robinson (CU), 6-2, 7-6.No. 5: Boetsch (CU)  def. Atkinson (USC), 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.No. 6: Ash Misquith (CU) def. Knorr (USC), 7-6, 6-7, 7-6 (10-2).