April 13, 2003

Columbia, S.C. – No. 13 South Carolina dropped its final regular season match, 5-1, to No. 8 Vanderbilt Sunday at the Sam Daniel Tennis Center. The Gamecocks finished with a 17-6 overall dual match record and a 5-6 SEC mark. USC will travel to Oxford, Miss., for the SEC Tournament, beginning Thursday on the University of Mississippi campus.

USC’s Tom Eklund won a straight-set match at No. 5 singles upping his dual match record to 13-8. The freshman from Sweden defeated the Commodores’ Scott Brown 6-2, 6-4.

At No. 1 singles, 47th-ranked Seth Rose’s bid for an upset of Vanderbilt’s second-ranked Bobby Reynolds fell short. The USC senior dropped the first match before a 6-3 second set win to force a deciding set that was won by Reynolds.

The Vanderbilt match was the final regular season home appearance for three USC seniors, Niculescu, Rose, and Nasir Sherazi, who were honored during the afternoon.

Carolina’s 17 victories this season equaled its 2002 win total. The Gamecocks resume action on Thursday at the SEC Tournament. Pairings for the tournament will be announced by the SEC following the conclusion of Sunday’s matches across the conference.

No. 8 VANDERBILT (19-3, 9-2) 5, No. 13 SOUTH CAROLINA (17-6, 5-6) 1
Doubles
No. 1: Scott Brown/Bobby Reynolds (VU) def. Tom Eklund/Angelo Niculescu (USC), 8-4
No. 2: Matthew Lockin/Chad Harris (VU) vs. Seth Rose/Carl Wermee (USC), 6-6, susp.
No. 3: Zach Dailey/Lewis Smith (VU) def. Marcus Westman/Geraldo Knorr (USC), 8-6
Singles
No. 1: #2 Bobby Reynolds (VU) def. #47 Seth Rose, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1
No. 2: #15 Chad Harris (VU) def. #56 Angelo Niculescu, 6-4, 6-2
No. 3: Marcus Westman (USC) vs. #55 Matthew Lockin, 7-5, 3-6, susp.
No. 4: Zach Dailey (VU) def. Carl Wermee (USC), 6-4, 6-0
No. 5: Tom Eklund (USC) def. Scott Brown (VU), 6-2, 6-4
No. 6: Lewis Smith (VU) def. Ben Atkinson (USC), 6-3, 6-4