Oct. 3, 2008

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina men’s tennis amassed six singles victories and three wins in doubles in the opening day of play at the South Carolina Fall Invitational at the Sam Daniel Tennis Facility Friday afternoon. Head coach Kent DeMars saw his top five singles players knock off their opponents in straight sets in the team’s first action of the season.

In Flight 1 doubles, junior Pedro Campos teamed with freshman Ivan Machado to top Arkansas’ Bradwin Williams and Taylor King 9-8, dispatching the Razorback duo 7-2 in the tie-break. Junior Diego Cubas also won with a new partner as he teamed with sophomore Johannes Pulsfort to knock off Taylor Tarnasky and Nicholas Spinazze 8-5. Seniors Thomas Stoddard and Joseph Veeder picked up an 8-6 win over Connor Smith and Matt Walters of Arkansas in Flight 3.

On the singles side, Cubas kicked things off with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Williams in Flight 1, and Campos picked up right where he left off last season with a decisive 6-0, 6-3 victory over Tarnasky in Flight 2. Pulsfort and Machado won their matches in Flights 3 and 4, respectively. Pulsfort dominated King 6-2, 6-0, while Machado won his collegiate singles debut 6-3, 6-2 over Spinazze. Junior David Wolff topped Smith in Flight 5 6-0, 6-2, and sophomore Chris Sheehan topped Tariq Ismail 6-2, 6-3. Arkansas’ Matt Walters captured the Razorbacks’ lone win of the day with a 7-6 (0), 6-2 win over Stoddard.

In other tournament action, Louisville posted five singles victories and won three of its four doubles matches. North Carolina rounded out the field with a 3-5 singles record and a lone doubles win.

Play continues on Sat., Oct. 4, at 10 a.m. at both the Sam Daniel Tennis Facility, where South Carolina will play its matches, as well as the Maxcy Gregg Tennis Center.

Complete Results
Doubles
Viktor Maksimcuk/Sumit-Prakash Gupta (UL) def. Zach Hunter/Brennan Boyajian (NC) 9-7
Robert Rotaru/Alejandro Calligari (UL) def. Luke Mojica/Andrew Crone (NC) 8-6
Robert Hall/Adam Donaldson (UL) def. Alex Rafiee/Cameron Ahari (NC) 8-4
Maclane Wilkinson/Taylor Meyer (NC) def. Andrew Carter/Tim Barnoud (UL) 8-5
Pedro Campos/Ivan Machado (SC) def. Bradwin Williams/Taylor King (Ark.) 9-8 (2)
Diego Cubas/Johannes Pulsfort (SC) def. Taylor Tarnasky/Nicholas Spinazze (Ark.) 8-5
Joseph Veeder/Thomas Stoddard (SC) def. Connor Smith/Matt Walters (Ark.) 8-6

Singles
Viktor Maksimcuk (UL) def. Brennan Boyajian (NC) 6-4, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (0)
Andrew Crone (NC) def. Sumit-Prakash Gupta (UL) 6-3, 6-3
Luke Mojica (NC) def. Robert Rotaru (UL) 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3
Alejandro Calligari (UL) def. Cameron Ahari (NC) 6-1, 6-4
Robert Hall (UL) def. Zach Hunter (NC) 6-2, 6-1
Alex Rafiee (NC) def. Tim Barnoud (UL) 6-1, 6-2
Andrew Carter (UL) def. Taylor Meyer (NC) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
Adam Donaldson (UL) def. Maclane Wilkinson (NC) 6-1, 6-4
Diego Cubas (SC) def. Bradwin Williams (Ark.) 6-2, 6-4
Pedro Campos (SC) def. Taylor Tarnasky (Ark.) 6-0, 6-3
Johannes Pulsfort (SC) def. Taylor King (Ark.) 6-2, 6-0
Ivan Machado (SC) def. Nicholas Spinazze (Ark.) 6-3, 6-2
David Wolff (SC) def. Connor Smith (Ark.) 6-0, 6-2
Matt Walters (Ark.) def. Thomas Stoddard (SC) 7-6 (0), 6-2
Chris Sheehan (SC) def. Tariq Ismail (Ark.) 6-2, 6-3