Spartans Head To Florida Looking To Stay Hot
4/1/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 1, 2009
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SPARTANBURG, S.C. - There's been some stark contrast in the USC Upstate tennis programs' results. Not that both the men's and women's teams haven't won, in fact both are on impressive winning streaks, but that they've won in such different ways. The men's tennis program will look to keep rolling over opponents, having posted four straight wins during its program's record 18 straight wins by a score of at least 6-1. The women's tennis program, meanwhile, has had a couple heart-pounders, winning decisions against two of the A-Sun's best Jacksonville and North Florida, 4-3. Now, both will take the long road trip South to face FGCU and Stetson in a dangerous trip to see if they will be playing for championships next Tuesday when ETSU comes to visit the USC Upstate Tennis Complex.
What To Watch For This Week In Upstate Tennis
• Junior Javier Tori is one win shy of career school records in both singles and combined wins, having posted 56 singles wins and 118 combined wins.
• Stetson's men's team is one of three in the A-Sun still with a perfect conference record. The women's team has lost just once, to UNF, and is currently third in the A-Sun.
• Senior Anna Novo needs two singles wins to reach 90 in her career.
Novo Sets A-Sun Mark
Now that Anna Novo has already set school records in pretty much any category that the school tracks, the senior obviously had no choice but to go after conference records. Novo became the first player in conference history to earn three A-Sun Player of the Week nods in a season on April 1, tying the conference mark for most player of the week honors in a career as she earned the award for posting critical wins at No. 1 singles in 4-3 victories over Jacksonville and North Florida.
The award is the senior's eighth career player of the week award, as she won three in the Division II Peach Belt Conference in 2007 and she won two A-Sun honors in 2008 before winning the A-Sun award on Feb. 4 and March 11 this season. Novo, in just two years, tied Jacksonville's Emese Sulyos (2004-07), the A-Sun Player of the Year in 2004 and 2007, for the A-Sun record of five player of the week awards
Looking For A New Record
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 March 31. Upstate 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.
Rank And File
Although USC Upstate has fallen out of the latest ITA Division I rankings after spending two weeks in the top 75, reaching No. 71 on March 24, the Spartans still have both a singles player and doubles pair amongst the individual rankings. Freshman Ramiro Blanco, thanks to a 20-match winning streak, moved up four spots in the national rankings to No. 106 and the doubles pair of freshman Edgar Rodriguez and junior Jack Roux moved up three spots to No. 61 thanks to a perfect 11-0 record.
Tori's Tear Through The Record Book
Junior Javier Tori enters the week 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).
Wake-Up Call
On March 30, for the first time in the USC Upstate women's tennis team's 18-match winning streak, the Spartans found themselves watching one match that would decide a win or a loss. In the end, freshman Ana-Sofia Camberos, who has an 8-1 record this season, pulled out a 6-2 third-set win at No. 6 singles to give Upstate a 4-3 win over a tough UNF team that is currently fourth in the A-Sun with a 6-2 record.
Alessandro's Antics
Upstate head coach Alessandro De Marzo, in his fifth year as head coach of both the men's and women's tennis programs, set the school record of wins as tennis coach with Upstate sweep of Jacksonville on Sunday, breaking the mark held by Alan Ferguson, who won 117 matches with the men's program from 1988-97 and 40 with the women's program from 1991-97 for 157 career wins. De Marzo won his school-record 74th match with the women's program and added his 84th with the men's program to post his 158th win with Upstate since taking over the program in 2004. De Marzo now has a 75-26 record with the women's team and a 86-26 mark with the men for 161 career wins.
Up Next
The weight of next Tuesday's showdown with ETSU will not truly be known until after this weekend, but like Upstate, the Bucs have perfect records on both the men's and women's sides of the net. The 2 p.m. match could be the most significant match in school history if both ETSU and Upstate's teams sweep their respective trips to FGCU and Stetson this weekend.
