Year Three For Men's Tennis Set To Start
9/8/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Sept. 8, 2009
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SPARTANBURG, S.C. - As the USC Upstate men's tennis team enters the 2009-10 season, it does so with perhaps the greatest expectations on its shoulders of any athletic team at the school since Upstate moved to Division I in 2007. Coming within one set of upsetting ETSU in the final match of 2009 for the Atlantic Sun Conference regular-season title, the Spartans won 20 straight matches during the year and still managed a 22-3 overall record and a 9-1 mark in the A-Sun.
With four players who earned All-A-Sun honors back this fall, the Spartans seem poised to make some noise after finishing 2009 ranked 70th in the nation. To start the season, the Spartans will compete in their own USC Upstate Fall Tournament amongst one of the most challenging fields ever assembled at the Upstate Tennis Courts, with Clemson, Furman, S.C. State, Wofford, Coastal Carolina, Charleston Southern, Presbyterian, Appalachian State, USC Aiken and UNC Pembroke all sending athletes.
2008 Tournament Recap
The USC Upstate men's tennis team concluded play at the USC Upstate Fall Tennis Tournament on Sept. 13 at Wofford's Reeves Tennis Center. USC Aiken's Bruno Seves won the Federer `A' draw, USC Aiken's Nathan Berlyn won the Nadal `B' draw and Wofford's Michael Schechter took the Murray `C' draw. In doubles play, the USC Aiken duo of Dagoberto Darrezzo and Ed Horne won the lone draw. Leandro Osorio won his consolation match in the Federer bracket, downing Michael Nicol of Presbyterian, 6-4, 6-4. Nico Ospina fell in his semifinals match in the Murray bracket to Patrick Fediuk of Presbyterian, 6-2, 7-5.
Short Shots
• The Spartans finished the 2009 season ranked 70th in the nation, marking the eighth time in the past nine years that the team held an ITA postseason ranking, including their last seven years of Division II play.
• The 2009 Spartans tied an Atlantic Sun Conference record as six players earned All-A-Sun honors, including seniors Renzo Airaldi, Javier Tori and Jack Roux and sophomore Edgar Rodriguez, who also earned the A-Sun Freshman of the Year award.
• Seniors Javier Tori and Jack Roux are in a battle for Upstate's career singles record. Tori currently holds the mark with 58 wins, but Roux is right behind with 57.
• Senior Jack Roux set a school record with 46 combined wins during his junior season, as he posted a 22-9 record in singles play and a 24-6 mark in doubles action.
• Senior Javier Tori holds the schools career record for combined wins with 122, posting a 58-28 record in singles play and a 64-22 mark in doubles action.
• Seniors Jack Roux and Javier Tori have earned a spot in the qualifying doubles draw at the 2009 D'Novo/ITA All-American Championships. Roux, Tori and sophomore Edgar Rodriguez also earned bids into the pre-qualifying draw in singles play.
• USC Aiken's Bruno Seves won the `A' draw of the Upstate Fall Tournament in 2008. USC Upstate's Sandy Franz won the `A' draw in 2007, the first year that Upstate was a Division I team.
• The 2008 event was held exclusively at Wofford College, as four days prior to the event Upstate head coach Alessandro De Marzo had a family emergency that required him to return to his home in Lima, Peru. De Marzo turned to Wofford coach Rod Ray and his team, who took over the men's half of the tournament with no hesitation and hosted and supervised the two-day event at Wofford's tennis courts. Wofford earned an ITA National Team Sportsmanship Award for its kindness.
