Feb. 13, 2004

COLUMBIA, S.C. –

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South Carolina Head Coach Kent DeMars looks to become the second coach in Carolina history to notch 300 wins at the school Sunday. The No. 24 Gamecocks take on the Charlotte 49ers at 10 a.m. and the Davidson Wildcats at 2:30 p.m. at the USC Indoor Tennis Facility.

Charlotte arrives in Columbia following a tough midweek slate of games. The 49ers start the week off at No. 52 North Carolina on Tuesday (Feb. 10) and hope to find some love at The Citadel in Charleston, S.C. on Valentine’s Day. Following those matches, the 49ers travel to Columbia to take on the No. 24 Gamecocks at 10 a.m. at the USC Indoor Tennis Facility. The 49ers will face a tough Carolina team riding a four-match win streak that will be fighting for Coach DeMars’ 300th career win as the Carolina head coach.

Davidson enters the match against No. 24 South Carolina with a 4-1 record on the 2004 season, with their only loss coming at the hands of then-No. 50 North Carolina, 7-0. With that loss occuring at the beginning of the season, the Wildcats are riding a four-match winning streak as they travel to Columbia. Carolina has not been kind to the Wildcats as USC owns a 28-1 lead in the all-time series with Davidson. In their last matchup, the Gamecocks defeated the Wildcats 6-1 in Davidson on Feb. 9, 2003.

Both Charlotte and Davidson are members of Region II, where Carolina has been perfect against for the past two seasons and looks to continue that streak for a third. Entering today’s matches, Carolina is 3-0 against regional opponents.

Head Coach Kent DeMars
Career Record: 513-272 (.654), 31 years
Record at USC: 299-201 (.598), 20 years

Entering his 20th year at the helm of the Carolina men’s tennis program, Head Coach Kent DeMars will reach his 300th win as the Gamecock head coach in 2004. Coach DeMars could achieve this milestone as early as Feb. 15 when the Charlotte 49ers and the Davidson Wildcats come to town. Just last year, Coach DeMars notched his 500th career win as a collegiate head coach as Carolina upended No. 36 Mississippi State in Starkville on Feb. 28, 4-3.

At USC, DeMars has guided teams to 10 consecutive NCAA bids, 17 appearances in his 19 seasons, and a No. 14 average national ranking. He has been named Region II Coach of the Year seven times in the past 16 seasons and was the 1989 NCAA Division I Coach of the Year.