Jan. 17, 2008

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The University of South Carolina men’s tennis team begins its spring season this weekend, traveling to New Orleans, La., to compete in the annual SEC Coaches Indoor Championship. The event will be held at the Health Club at the Hilton in New Orleans, Jan. 18-21. Earlier this week, Carolina was picked fifth in the Eastern Division in the SEC preseason coaches poll, while prior to that, the ITA tabbed South Carolina No. 56 in its preseason poll. The Gamecocks are led by head coach Kent DeMars, who is in his 24th season at the helm of the men’s tennis program.

Play begins on Friday morning with the Flight B singles round beginning at 8 a.m. Senior Jamie Cuellar, sophomore Ivan Cressoni, freshman Johannes Pulsfort and sophomore David Wolff will represent USC in Flight B. The Flight A singles round will begin at 9:30 a.m. Competing for the Gamecocks is sophomore Diego Cubas, sophomore Pedro Campos, ranked 74th among singles players in the ITA Preseason Poll, and senior Yevgeny Supeko.

Doubles action begins at 3 p.m., with three teams participating for Carolina. The teams of Cubas/Supeko, Cressoni/Wolff and Campos/Pulsfort will all take the court in doubles play on Friday.

The complete list of South Carolina matches and the tournament schedule is listed below.

South Carolina Matches – Day One (Friday, Jan. 18)
Flight A Singles:
Diego Cubas vs. Jeff Dadamo (UF)
(3) Greg Ouellette (UF) vs. Pedro Campos
Yevgeny Supeko vs. Alex Lacroix (UF)

Flight B Singles:
Jamie Cuellar vs. Jordie Kindevater (UA)
Ivan Cressoni vs. Daniel Cash (UF)
Johannes Pulsfort vs. Drake Bernstein (UGA)
David Wolff vs. Matt Brewer (UT)

Doubles:
Cubas/Supeko vs. Bernstein/Varela (UGA)
Cressoni/Wolff vs. (7) Hensel/Smith (UT)
Campos/Pulsfort vs. Cluskey/Gauthier (LSU)

Tournament Schedule
Friday
B Singles First Round: beginning at 8 a.m.
A Singles First Round: beginning at 9:30 a.m.
Doubles First Round: beginning at 3 p.m.