May 10, 2003

AUSTIN, Texas – No. 18 South Carolina fell to No. 33 Rice, 4-2, in its NCAA Tournament first round match on the campus of the University of Texas. The Gamecocks, who were making their 10th consecutive NCAA appearance and 17th in the last 19 years, ended their 2003 season with a record of 17-8. Rice advances to face the host Longhorns, 5-0 winners over St. Bonaventure earlier in the day, for a berth in the NCAA Championships at Athens, Ga.

USC secured the fiercely competitive doubles point with victories at the No. 2 and 3 positions. Seth Rose and Carl Wermee posted an 8-6 victory at No. 2 while Tom Eklund and Marcus Westman were 8-5 winners at No. 3. Carolina’s duo of Angelo Niculescu and Geraldo Knorr fell short in their upset bid of Rice’s Robert and William Barker, the nation’s top-ranked doubles team, in an 8-5 decision.

Ben Atkinson posted his team-leading 17th dual win of 2003, his 27th overall victory of the year, with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 triumph over Matthias Mathaes at No. 6.

Carolina’s two ranked players, Rose (No. 48) and Niculescu (No. 69) both fell in their matches with Rice players Robert Searle and Robert Barker, ranked 27th and 29th, at the No. 1 and 2 singles positions.

Rose will resume play by making his second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Singles Championships in Athens, Ga., when the field of 64 begins first-round play on May 21.

No. 33 Rice (20-7) 4, No. 18 SOUTH CAROLINA (17-8) 2
Doubles
No. 1: #1 R. Barker/W Barker (Rice) def. Niculescu/Knorr (USC), 8-5
No. 2: Rose/Wermee (USC) def. Searle/Haerle (Rice), 8-6
No. 3: Eklund/Westman (USC) def. Jackson/Mathaes (Rice), 8-5
USC wins doubles point, leads 1-0

Singles
No. 1: #27 Robert Searle (Rice) def. #48 Seth Rose (USC), 6-4, 6-0.
No. 2: #29 Robert Barker (Rice) def. #69 Angelo Niculescu (USC), 6-4, 6-1.
No. 3: #40 William Barker (Rice) vs. Marcus Westman (USC), 6-4, 5-7, 4-3, susp.
No. 4: Tony Haerle (Rice) def Carl Wermee (USC), 1-6, 7-5, 6-4.
No. 5: Vuk Rajevac (Rice) def. Tom Eklund (USC), 7-5, 6-2.
No. 6: Ben Atkinson (USC) def. Matthias Mathaes (Rice), 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.