April 6, 2003

Columbia, S.C. – No. 20 South Carolina defeated 42nd-ranked Tennessee, 4-2, improving to 16-4 overall and 5-4 in the SEC. The win is the tenth-straight home victory for USC, its longest streak since the 1994 season. Carolina’s next match is Wed., April 9 at home vs. Region II opponent Wake Forest at 2 p.m.

Matches were moved inside the USC Indoor Tennis Facility due to rain in the Columbia area.

USC earned the doubles point and a 1-0 lead on a pair of 9-7 wins by Seth Rose and Carl Wermee at No. 2 and Geraldo Knorr and Marcus Westman at No. 3.

Westman toppled Tennessee’s Wade Orr, 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3 at No. 3 singles and No. 116 Wermee won 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 over Mark Henderson at No. 4 singles before Tom Eklund notched the clinching win at No. 5. Eklund defeated UT’s Vincent Perna, 6-2, 7-5 to give the Gamecocks the victory.

USC dropped a pair of matches between ranked players. No. 67 Seth Rose fell in straight-sets to UT’s 33rd-ranked Simon Rea and No. 72 Angelo Niculescu was edged by the Vols’ 76th-ranked Mark Dietrich, 6-4, 4-6, 5-7.

Ben Atkinson led his match at No. 6 singles, 6-3, 2-1 when play was suspended.

USC reaches the mid-point of its five-match home stand on Wednesday with a 2 p.m. match vs. No. 27 Wake Forest at the Sam Daniel Tennis Facility. The Gamecocks then host No. 2 Florida on Friday and tenth-ranked Vanderbilt on Sunday.

No. 20 SOUTH CAROLINA (16-4, 5-4) 4, No. 42 Tennessee (9-10, 2-8) 2
Doubles
No. 1: Mark Dietrich/Wade Orr (UT) def. Angelo Niculescu/Tom Eklund (USC), 8-3
No. 2: Seth Rose/Carl Wermee (USC) def. Mark Henderson/Vincent Perna, 9-7
No. 3: Marcus Westman/Geraldo Knorr (USC) def. Rawl Martin/Simon Rea, 9-7

USC wins the doubles point, leads 1-0

Singles
No. 1: #33 Simon Rea (UT) def. #67 Seth Rose (USC), 6-3, 6-2
No. 2: #76 Mark Dietrich (UT) def. #72 Angelo Niculescu (USC), 4-6, 6-4, 7-5
No. 3: Marcus Westman (USC) def. Wade Orr (UT), 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3
No. 4: #116 Carl Wermee (USC) def. Mark Henderson (UT), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
No. 5: Tom Eklund (USC) def. Vincent Perna (UT), 6-2, 7-5
No. 6: Ben Atkinson (USC) led Rawl Martin (UT), 6-3, 2-1 susp.