April 9, 2006
Nashville, Tenn. – South Carolina’s men’s tennis team set a school record on Sunday, winning its fourth straight Southeastern Conference regular season match with a 5-2 victory over Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn. The Gamecocks (13-11, 5-5 SEC) won the doubles point and got singles wins from senior Adam Adler, junior Pedro Rodrigues and sophomores Jaime Cuellar and Yevgeny Supeko to clinch the win over the Commodores (7-12, 2-8) at the Currey Tennis Center.
South Carolina earned the doubles point for the third time during the streak. Supeko and Cuellar earned an 8-5 win over Ryan Preston and Nathan Sachs at No. 2 doubles and Rodrigues and senior Tom Eklund quickly followed to clinch the team point with their 8-4 triumph over Evan Dufaux and Andy Mack of Vanderbilt on court one.
For the second time this weekend, the Gamecocks came out firing on all cylinders in singles. Carolina won on courts two, three, four and six to clinch the match and extend their lead to 5-0. Adler’s win on court six was the squad’s 13th straight win in singles matches, after winning the final four in a come-from-behind victory over Alabama on April 2 and sweeping four singles from No. 21 Kentucky on Friday.
The sophomore class turned in a strong performance with Supeko securing a 6-4, 6-2 win over Sachs at No. 4 singles. Cuellar quickly followed with a straight sets win of his own, defeating Dufaux, 6-3, 6-3 at No. 2. Adler put the match out of reach for the second straight time when he knocked off Jordan Magarik, 6-4, 7-5. Carolina’s final point would come courtesy of Rodrigues lost the first set 6-2 against Mack, but battled back to win the final two sets, 6-1, 6-2, at No. 3 singles.
The Gamecocks, ranked 46th this week in the Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings, will travel to the Upstate this Wednesday, April 12, for the 36th edition of its in-state rivalry with Clemson. The match is set for a 2 p.m. start at the Hoke A. Sloan Tennis Center. Fans are encouraged to show up for the tennis match and then head over to Doug Kingsmore Stadium to watch the two schools’ baseball teams battle it out on the diamond at 7 p.m.
The Gamecock tennis team will wrap up its 2006 campaign next Saturday, April 15, as it heads to Gainesville, Fla., to face SEC East rival Florida at 1 p.m.
