Nov. 4, 2009

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina senior Diego Cubas earned a spot in the 32-player field at the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships. He is one of six Southeastern Conference players in the field and the first Gamecock to earn a spot in the prestigious event since 2002. He and doubles partner Ivan Machado are also in the 16-team doubles bracket.

Cubas is 7-2 so far this fall and brings a No. 28 national ranking into the event. He advanced to the finals of the ITA/Wilson Carolina Regional, including a three-set, quarterfinal win over No. 110 Stefan Hardy of North Carolina. Cubas opened the season by winning the Flight A Singles title at the UCF Invitational in October.

In the first round, he will face Illinois’ Dennis Nevolo at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday at Yale University’s Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center.

Cubas and Machado, ranked No. 9 in the country, captured a spot in the doubles bracket after Virginia’s tandem of Houston Barrick and Sanam Singh were forced to withdraw from the tournament. With a record of 4-3 this fall, the Gamecock duo will face SEC rivals Tim Puetz and Alex Stamchev of Auburn Thursday morning.

The ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships will play its first-round singles and doubles matches on Thursday. Second-round and quarterfinal singles will take place on Friday with the semifinals and finals on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.