March 9, 2009

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Diego Cubas from the South Carolina men’s tennis team has been named AgSouth Athlete of the Week.

Cubas helped Carolina to its first 2-0 SEC start since 2005 and just its second win over the Kentucky Wildcats in the last eight meetings between the schools. The win over No. 11 Kentucky gave the Gamecocks their first win over a top-15 team in three years. The Gamecocks posted a win against Vanderbilt before defeating UK.

Cubas defeated the highest-ranked player of his career in rallying back from a one-set deficit to beat No. 2 Bruno Agostinelli at No. 1 singles against Kentucky. It marked the first Gamecock win over a top-5 player since Tom Eklund defeated then-No. 5 Ken Skupski (LSU) in straight sets on March 6, 2005.

Cubas also teamed with Ivan Machado to beat two top-30 doubles teams in as many matches, giving the duo three wins over top-40 opponents this spring.