April 9, 2007

The South Carolina men’s tennis team will host rival Clemson on Wednesday, April 11, at the Sam Daniel Tennis Center on the USC campus. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m. and the first 50 fans to arrive at Wednesday’s match will receive a free “Beat Clemson” t-shirt, courtesy of the South Carolina marketing department. All USC home matches are free to the public.

The Gamecocks are 11-11 overall and 2-8 in the SEC while Clemson brings a 24-8 record and 4-5 ACC mark to Columbia. Carolina lost a pair of SEC matches to ranked opponents over the weekend, falling at Kentucky and at home to Vanderbilt. The Tigers collected wins over Wake Forest and NC State in their last two matches.

South Carolina holds a 23-15 advantage in the all-time series with Clemson. The Tigers currently own a two-match win streak in the series after going 2-0 against the Gamecocks in 2006. Carolina fell to Clemson, 6-1, in the regular season meeting on the road a year ago. The two teams met again in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in Chapel Hill, N.C., and the Tigers came away with the 4-1 victory.

Under head coach Kent DeMars, the Gamecocks are 17-10 vs. Clemson. Since a nine-match Carolina win streak from 1996-2003, the Tigers have won three of the last four matches. The Gamecocks’ last victory came in 2005, 6-1, in Columbia.

Junior Yevgeny Supeko and freshman Pedro Campos share the team lead with 22 singles wins this season. All 11 of the Gamecocks’ losses this season have come to ranked opponents, including seven setbacks to top 25 squads.