Tori-Airaldi Cap Career By Earning Regional Doubles Ranking
6/9/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Senior Javier Tori talked all year about how his doubles teammate, Renzo Airaldi, was one of the best doubles players to ever play at USC Upstate. On late Tuesday afternoon, the pair cemented an already strong legacy by becoming the first players in school history to hold down a postseason ITA Regional ranking, as the Spartan pair finished ranked 10th in the Carolina Region in doubles play.
Tori and Airaldi also finished among some prestigious company in the regional poll, as Reid Carleton and Henrique Cunha of Duke topped the doubles poll. The pair made the national quarterfinals at the Men's Tennis Doubles Championship. The North Carolina pair of Clay Donato and Stefan Hardy, ranked No. 2 in the poll, reached the national quarterfinals.
Tori and Airaldi, both natives of Lima, Peru, made the decision to come to USC Upstate together four years and never looked back. After Airaldi earned All-American honors as a freshman in Division II with partner Stefan Dumitrescu, the pair hooked up midway through their sophomore year and combined to post a 52-15 (.776) record.
The pair hit their stride as seniors, posting a 20-5 overall record, including a 19-3 dual meet record. The pair swept through the A-Sun season with a perfect 10-0 mark and they posted an impressive 18-1 mark at No. 1 doubles. The team also posted a 2-1 record against regionally-ranked pairs, beating Yale's eighth-ranked Joel Samaha and Erik BlumenKranz, 8-6, and Campbell's seventh-ranked Davy Sum and Dominik Kaniewski, 9-8 (10-8).
The all-time wins leader at USC Upstate, Tori, a No. 3 singles player, set the school record for singles (86), doubles (81) and combined (167) wins. He is the lone player in school history to win 20 singles matches in all three years and 20 doubles matches in all four years.
Airaldi finished his career with 55 singles wins (fifth in school history) and 84 doubles wins (second) to make up his 139 career combined wins (third). He was a Division II All-American as a freshman and he racked up Second Team All-A-Sun honors as a sophomore and junior.
Upstate faced off against eight teams that finished amongst the top 75, posting wins over No. 61 San Diego (4-3, March 11), No. 70 Yale (6-1, March 16) and No. 51 ETSU (4-3, March 20). The tough schedule proved to be important in the team's success, as the Spartans also beat the Carolina Region's 10th-ranked Winthrop, 4-3 on March 23, and faced six teams that made the NCAA Tournament field en route to the team's first outright conference title in school history.
The Spartans, led by A-Sun Coach of the Year Alessandro De Marzo, rose from No. 72 in the preseason ITA rankings 18 spots to No. 54, reaching a high of No. 52 in the country after a 6-1 win over Stetson on April 1.
