University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics
San Diego
Seventh Heaven: Spartans Win Seventh Straight With 4-3 Upset Of No. 45 San Diego
3/11/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
March 11, 2010
POINT LOMA, Calif. - On the first day of its trip across the country to California, the USC Upstate men's tennis team sent some shockwaves all the way across the country as Upstate downed No. 45 San Diego, 4-3, thanks to four singles wins from the No. 3 to No. 6 slots, giving the Spartans their largest upset in the Division I era on Thursday at the Barnes Tennis Center.
Down 1-0 after the doubles point, Upstate (9-4 overall) fought back, taking the lead, as junior Marco Linconir posted a 6-0, 6-4 win over Casey Powers at No. 6 and senior Jack Roux won his 69th career singles match, 6-3, 6-2 at No. 4 singles against Nils Schive.
With all four of the other matches lasting three sets, the Spartans had to dig deep to get the final two points. After a loss at No. 2, the team fought back, with senior Javier Tori providing one of the biggest of his school-record 71 career singles wins, posting a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 win over Thibaut Visy at No. 3. Sophomore Ramiro Blanco gutted out a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over Abdullah Hasheem at No. 5 singles to clinch out the win.
The Torreros (7-3 overall) took the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 before seniors Tori and Renzo Airaldi posted a 9-7 win over Dean Jackson and Nils Schive. The win was Airaldi's 75th career doubles win, which is second in school history only to Tori, who has 77.
The win was Upstate's second over a ranked opponent in the Division I era, as the team beat No. 71 UNC Wilmington on March 19, 2009.
The Spartans play Loyola Marymount on Friday at 1:30 p.m. before wrapping up the California trip on Sunday at No. 48 UC Irvine at 9 a.m.
Tennis Match Results USC Upstate 4, #45 San Diego 3 Singles competition 1. Dean Jackson (SD) def. Renzo Airaldi (UPSTM) 6-7, 6-4, 7-6 2. #86 Nikola Bubnic (SD) def. Edgar Rodriguez (UPSTM) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 3. Javier Tori (UPSTM) def. Thibaut Visy (SD) 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 4. Jack Roux (UPSTM) def. Nils Schive (SD) 6-3, 6-2 5. Ramiro Blanco (UPSTM) def. Abdullah Hashem (SD) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 6. Marco Linconir (UPSTM) def. Casey Powers (SD) 6-0, 6-4 Doubles competition 1. Javier Tori/Renzo Airaldi (UPSTM) def. Dean Jackson/ Nils Schive (SD) 9-7 2. Charl Wolmarans/Nikola Bubnic (SD) def. Ramiro Blanco/ Edgar Rodriguez (UPSTM) 8-6 3. Thibaut Visy/Abdullah Hashem (SD) def. Marco Linconir/ Jack Roux (UPSTM) 8-2 Match Notes: USC Upstate 9-4 San Diego 7-3; National ranking #45; Regional ranking #8 Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (6,4,2,3,5,1)
