Upstate Takes Battle For Third Place, Beat Camels, 6-1, In Season Finale
4/10/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 10, 2008
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Playing with a sprained ankle, senior Sandy Franz (Duesseldorf, Germany/Berufskolleg Hilden) showed the trademark grit and determination that marked his career and senior Sebastian Gonzales-Orbegoso (Lima, Peru/Cambridge College) added his own touch of fortitude playing with a nagging shoulder, as both wrapped up their careers with singles wins on Senior Day at the USC Upstate Tennis Complex. In the process, the senior duo led Upstate to a 6-1 win over Campbell to finish the season with a 15-6 overall record and an 8-2 Atlantic Sun Conference mark.
The match was a battle for third place in the conference standings with Campbell finishing the regular season with a 15-7 mark and a 7-3 conference slate. The Camels clinched the third-place slot in the A-Sun tournament that starts on April 18 at ETSU because Upstate is not eligible for the conference tournament during its reclassification period.
The Spartans picked up the doubles point, winning the last two matches after a loss at No. 1. Sophomore Javier Tori (Lima, Peru/Markham College) and sophomore Renzo Airaldi (Lima, Peru/Domingo Faustino Sarmiento) finished an 8-4 win over Larbi Lamzouri and Marc Sifre at No. 2 and Franz and sophomore Jack Roux (Santiago, Chile/Subercaseaux) added an 8-4 win at No. 3 against Sebastian Thesleff and Loukas Wallaart to take the point.
The momentum carried over to singles play, where Upstate took five of six matches for the win. Roux downed Gabriel Delarue, 6-2, 6-3, at No. 3 singles. Following a loss at No. 2 singles made it 2-1, Tori downed Sifre, 6-2, 6-2, at No. 4 singles for his 20th singles win of the season.
Franz, with a severe sprain on his right ankle, fought through a tough match at No. 1 singles and defeated Davy Sum, 6-1, 6-4, to clinch the match, 4-1. It was Franz's 44th singles win in his career and his 99th career combined win. He won 45 matches in his doubles career.
The Spartans closed the match as sophomore Arnaldo Lovera (Caracas, Venezuela) downed Wallaart, 6-1, 7-6, at No. 6 and Gonzales-Orbegoso finished the match with a super tiebreak against Thesleff, 6-7, 6-3, 10-7. Gonzales-Orbegoso finished his career with a 55-32 singles record, the second-most wins in school history and a 54-35 doubles mark. His 109 career combined wins are the second most in school history.
Upstate finished the season 15-6 overall and 8-2 in the A-Sun, marking the fourth time in the last six years the program reached 15 wins. Head coach Alessandro De Marzo is 66-24 in four seasons as the head coach of the men's program.
Men's Tennis Matches USC Upstate 6, Campbell 1 Singles competition 1. Sandy Franz (UPST) def. Davy Sum (CAM) 6-1, 6-4 2. Larbi Lamzouri (CAM) def. Renzo Airaldi (UPST) 6-2, 6-4 3. Jack Roux (UPST) def. Gabriel Delarue (CAM) 6-2, 6-3 4. Javier Tori (UPST) def. Marc Sifre (CAM) 6-2, 6-2 5. S. Gonzales-Orbegoso (UPST) def. Sebastian Thesleff (CAM) 6-7, 6-3, 10-7 6. Arnaldo Lovera (UPST) def. Loukas Wallaart (CAM) 6-1, 7-6 Doubles competition 1. Davy Sum/Gabriel Delarue (CAM) def. S. Gonzales-Orbegoso/ Leandro Osorio (UPST) 8-5 2. Javier Tori/Renzo Airaldi (UPST) def. Larbi Lamzouri/Marc Sifre (CAM) 8-4 3. Sandy Franz/Jack Roux (UPST) def. Sebastian Thesleff/Loukas Wallaart (CAM) 8-4 Match Notes: Campbell 15-7, 7-3 A-Sun USC Upstate 15-6, 8-2 A-Sun Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (3,2,4,1,6,5) T-3:00 A-345
