April 12, 2006
Clemson, S.C. – The No. 35 South Carolina men’s tennis team saw its four-match winning streak come to an end on Wednesday, falling, 6-1, to archrival Clemson at the Hoke Sloan Tennis Center. The Gamecocks (13-12, 5-5 SEC) lost for just the third time in the last 15 matches against the No. 21 Tigers (19-8, 3-6 ACC), and picked up their lone point courtesy of junior Pedro Rodrigues’ fourth straight singles win.
In doubles, the two rivals quickly split a pair of matches, with Carolina’s win coming as Tom Eklund and Rodrigues cruised to a fourth win in their last five doubles contests, downing Clement Reix and Jarmaine Jenkins, 8-3, at No. 1 doubles. But the Tigers would claim the point however, as Sander Konig and Ryan Young defeated USC’s Jaime Cuellar and Yevgeny Supeko, 8-6, at No. 2 doubles.
Clemson extended their lead to 2-0 early in singles with a win on court six, but the Gamecocks would pull back a point through Rodrigues’ straight-sets, 6-3, 6-2, win over Tiger freshman Paul Koenke at No. 4 singles. CU would pull away soon after though, and won the final four matches of the contest, including a trio of three-set wins at Nos. 1-3 singles, to claim the victory.
USC will try to redeem itself this weekend, as it wraps up regular season play on the road at 14th-ranked Florida, on Saturday, April 15. The match is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m., and is part of a full slate of Saturday SEC contests that will play a large role in determining the seedings for next week’s SEC Tournament in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The tournament kicks off with the SEC Awards Banquet on Wednesday evening, April 19, and concludes with the SEC Championship match on Sunday, April 23.
