March 19, 2010
COLUMBIA, S.C. – A straight-set win for senior Pedro Campos in the No. 2 singles position sealed a 4-3 win for South Carolina over No. 25 Nebraska in men’s tennis action Friday afternoon at Maxcy Gregg Tennis Center. The Gamecocks (7-6) held off a late surge from the Huskers (11-5) to pick up their fifth-straight non-conference win of the season.
South Carolina swept the doubles point at Campos and Diego Cubas made quick work of the nation’s No. 73 tandem of Calin Paar and David Bendheim 8-2. The Gamecocks’ top duo scored a quick break in the second game of the set before taking two more of the Huskers’ service games, including the final game of the match. In the No. 2 doubles spot, Ivan Machado and Johannes Pulsfort had a similar match against Francois Van Impe and Benedikt Lindheim, claiming an 8-2 win to deliver the doubles point for the Gamecocks. Senior Ivan Cressoni and Alexander Kostanov won their tiebreaker in the No. 3 match to complete the sweep.
The Huskers took the first singles point as Lindheim upended Machado 6-2, 6-0 in the No. 5 match, but Pulsfort answered with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Taylor Boney in the No. 6 contest. The Gamecock sophomore battled back from an early service break in the first set, winning Boney’s last two service games to take the early lead before cruising to the victory.
Cubas, ranked No. 73 in the country, put the Gamecocks up 3-1 with a 6-2, 6-2 win in the No. 1 position. The match was hotly and emotionally contested by both players, though Cubas controlled the scoreboard. Nebraska’s Andre Stenger cut the Gamecocks’ lead in half with a 7-6 (4), 6-3 win over Cressoni in the No. 4 match. Stenger eked out the first-set tiebreaker and collected service breaks in Cressoni’s last two service games to pick up the victory.
After Van Impe finished off a 6-0, 6-4 win over Kostanov in the No. 3 match, Campos and Paar were left to battle it out for the team victory. Earning a spot in the national rankings this week, No. 125 Campos won the first set thanks to a break in No. 82 Paar’s first service game of the match. In the second set, Campos opened with a break of Paar’s serve again and added another to go up 4-1. Paar could not battle back from the deficit, and Campos earned the 6-4, 6-2 victory against the first nationally-ranked player he has faced this season.
South Carolina returns to SEC action on Sun., March 21, at 1 p.m. against No. 14 Ole Miss.
Results
Doubles (Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3)
1. Diego Cubas/Pedro Campos (SC) def. (73) Calin Paar/David Bendheim (NEB) 8-2
2. Ivan Machado/Johannes Pulsfort (SC) def. Francois Van Impe/Benedikt Lindheim (NEB) 8-2
3. Ivan Cressoni/Alexander Kostanov (SC) def. Andre Stenger/Eric Sock (NEB) 8-7 (4)
Singles (Order of Finish: 5, 6, 1, 4, 3, 2)
1. (73) Diego Cubas (SC) def. David Bendheim (NEB) 6-2, 6-2
2. (125) Pedro Campos (SC) def. (82) Calin Paar (NEB) 6-4, 6-2
3. Francois Van Impe (NEB) def. Alexander Kostanov (SC) 6-0, 6-4
4. Andre Stenger (NEB) def. Ivan Cressoni (SC) 7-6 (4), 6-3
5. Benedikt Lindheim (NEB) def. Ivan Machado (SC) 6-2, 6-0
6. Johannes Pulsfort (SC) def. Taylor Boney (NEB) 6-4, 6-1
