Sept. 18, 2006

Three University of South Carolina men’s tennis players appear in the recently released Fila/ITA preseason national rankings.

The Gamecock duo of senior Pedro Rodrigues and junior Yevgeny Supeko is No. 17 in the doubles rankings and junior Jaime Cuellar, a second-team All-SEC selection last season, is No. 114 in the initial singles poll. All three players were invited to participate in the 2006 Polo Ralph Lauren All-America Tennis Championships.

South Carolina made its 13th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Championship in 2006. Head coach Kent DeMars, now in his 23rd season at the helm of the Gamecocks, returns five letterwinners from that team, including Rodrigues, Supeko, Cuellar, redshirt sophomore Thomas Stoddard (Greenwood, S.C.) and junior Joseph Veeder (Brevard, N.C.). Three new players have joined the team this fall in true freshmen Pedro Campos (Salvador, Brazil), Spencer Feldman (Upper Brookville, N.Y.) and David Wolff (Sarasota, Fla.)

The Gamecocks will open their fall season in Chapel Hill, N.C., at the UNC Fall Invitational on Sept. 29.