Spartan Trio Helps S.C. Wolves Win Open Division At The USTA Southern Sectionals
8/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Aug. 2, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - For the second year in a row, USC Upstate tennis head coach Alessandro De Marzo has captained a team to a USTA Southern Sectional League Championship, as his squad, which also features USC Upstate alumni Sandy Franz '09 and Stefan Dumitrescu '09, beat the S.C. Lowcountry entry, 2-0, on Sunday morning in the championship match of the Open Division, the toughest classification in the league championships.
The Southern Sectionals, which is billed as the largest tennis tournament in the world with more than 2,000 participants, is part of the USTA League recreational tennis program, which brings nearly 300,000 participants to the tennis courts each year. USTA League matches are a best-of-three format, with one singles match and two doubles matches each accounting for one point. For winning the Open-division bracket, the Upstate contingent, along with four others will now advance to the USTA League National Tournaments in Las Vegas, Nev., from Sept. 25-27 at the Darling Tennis Center.
The team, named the Wolves, featured seven players at the tournament - De Marzo, Dumitrescu, Franz, USC Aiken graduates Nicholas Lombardo and 2009 Division II doubles All-American Edward Horne, and University of South Carolina graduate Jaime Cuellar and USC incoming sophomore Ivan Machado along with two players who were unable to attend the event, USC Upstate alumni Jose Luis Reyes '07 and USC Upstate student assistant coach Julio Peralta. In 2009, De Marzo captained a team to the Southern Sectionals title in the 5.5-classification, but the classification was discontinued in 2010, meaning the team had to move up to the Open classification.
The Wolves started the tournament on Friday with a 2-1 win over the Mississippi team before the team took a 3-0 win over Tennessee. On Saturday, the team notched a 3-0 win over Tennessee, as Dumitrescu won the lone singles match and the team of De Marzo and Franz added a super-set tiebreaker win at No. 2 doubles. In the afternoon, De Marzo helped lift the team to a 2-1 win over Tennessee to clinch a spot in the finals by winning the Group II bracket, clinching a spot in the Nationals, as he and Cueller combined for a 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 1 doubles.
On Sunday, Franz and Ivan Machado won their No. 1 doubles match and Dumitrescu won his singles match against the S.C. Lowcountry team to win the championship.
