March 13, 2009

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 15 South Carolina suffered a 4-1 defeat at No. 6 Tennessee in men’s tennis action this afternoon. The Gamecocks lost the doubles point for just the second time this spring and managed just one singles victory against their SEC rival. Freshman Ivan Machado scored a straight-set win at No. 4 singles with the Nos. 1 and 6 singles contests going unfinished once the match was decided.

Doubles got off to a slow start for the Gamecocks as their No. 1 tandem of Diego Cubas and Machado dropped an 8-4 decision to the nation’s ninth-ranked team of John-Patrick Smith and Davey Sandgren. Jaime Cuellar and Johannes Pulsfort scored an 8-6 win over Christian Hansen and Jeremy Tweedt in the No. 3 position, leaving the point up to the No. 2 match, which was headed to a tie-breaker. Pedro Campos and Ivan Cressoni took the hard-fought loss to Boris Conkic and Matteo Fao, giving the Vols the early 1-0 lead.

Machado leveled the match with his 6-2, 6-3 win over Sandgren at No. 4 singles, but Fago put the Vols right back on top with a 6-1, 6-3 defeat of Cuellar in the No. 3 spot. After losing tie-breaker in the first set of No. 2 singles, Campos dropped the second set to No. 38 Conkic 6-1 to give UT a 3-1 margin.

With Cubas splitting the first two sets with Smith, ranked No. 10 in the country in singles, the match came down to the No. 5 singles match between Pulsfort and Matt Brewer. The Vols handily won the point 6-2, 6-1 to seal the team victory.

With the loss, South Carolina fell to 12-2 overall and 2-1 in SEC play. Tennessee improved to 9-3 overall and 2-2 in league action. The Gamecocks are back on the court Sun., March 15, at No. 4 Georgia.

No. 6 Tennessee 4, No. 15 South Carolina 1

Doubles: (Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2)
1. (9) John-Patrick Smith/Davey Sandgren (UT) def. (64) Diego Cubas/Ivan Machado (SC) 8-4
2. Boris Conkic/Matteo Fago (UT) def. Pedro Campos/Ivan Cressoni (SC) 9-8
3. Jaime Cuellar/Johannes Pulsfort (SC) def. Christian Hansen/Jeremy Tweedt (UT) 8-6

Singles: (Order of Finish: 4, 3, 2, 5)
1. (64) Diego Cubas (SC) vs. (10) John-Patrick Smith (UT) 7-6, 4-6, 1-2 DNF
2. (38) Boris Conkic (UT) def. Pedro Campos (SC) 7-6, 6-1
3. Matteo Fago (UT) def. Jaime Cuellar (SC) 6-1, 6-3
4. Ivan Machado (SC) def. Davey Sandgren (UT) 6-2, 6-3
5. Matt Brewer (UT) def. Johannes Pulsfort (UT) 6-2, 6-1
6. (110) Ivan Cressoni (SC) vs. Jeremy Tweedt (UT) 5-5 DNF