March 31, 2009

Final Stats

CLINTON, S.C. - Maybe it's only fitting that the USC Upstate men's team set one of its most historic marks at Presbyterian, one of the most storied program in all of collegiate tennis, as the Spartans tied the school record of 18 straight victories with a 6-1 win in non-conference action on Tuesday.

Junior Javier Tori won both his singles and doubles matches for the Spartans (20-2 overall), moving just one win away from tying two career program records. With 56 career singles wins, he is behind the school-record of 57 set by Jorge Ventura from 1994-97. His 118 career combined wins (singles and doubles) is also one behind the school record of 119 set by Stefan Dumitrescu (2003-07).

Upstate, meanwhile, posted its historic win to tie the mark set by the 2003 Peach Belt Conference Championship team and won its 20th match for just the fourth time in school history. The 2007 team posted the school record with a 23-5 mark.

The Spartans started the day by winning the doubles point in split-decision fashion, as Tori and junior Renzo Airaldi, who downed Matthew Martin and Zachary Sprouse, 8-3, at No. 1 and freshmen Edgar Rodriguez and Ramiro Blanco posted an 8-6 win over Patrick Fediuk and Michael Nichol at No. 2 before the Blue Hose (4-11 overall) won the No. 3 match.

Upstate stayed on track in singles play, as Airaldi posted a 6-0, 6-1 win over Nichol at No. 2 and Tori added a 6-0, 6-2 win over Fediuk at No. 3. Blanco notched a 6-2, 6-4 win over Sprouse at No. 4 and sophomore Nico Ospina added a 6-3, 6-3 win over Cannatelli at No. 5 to clinch the match before freshman Edgar Rodriguez wrapped up the Spartans' scoring with a 6-2, 7-6 win over Martin at No. 1. Brad Luciuk posted a super tiebreaker win over sophomore Ignacio Velez to wrap up play.

Upstate will look to set the school record for consecutive wins on Friday when it heads to Florida Gulf Coast looking to stay undefeated in the Atlantic Sun Conference at 1 p.m.