SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The USC Upstate men's tennis program began in 1970 and after a four year hiatus from 1982-85 the program played continuously for the next 34 seasons and accumulated 404 total wins and 117 conference victories.
 
The USC Upstate men's tennis program mad 10 trips to the NCAA Division II Tournament and advanced to the National round on five different occasions. For seven consecutive seasons (2001-2007) the Spartans made it to the Tournament, the longest stretch in program history. USC Upstate was nationally ranked on 15 different occasions. At the end of the 1992 and 2007 seasons the Spartans ranked No. 5 nationally their highest ranking in program history.
 
The Spartans took home a trio of Regular season conference championships, 2003 Peach Belt, 2005 Peach Belt and 2010 ASUN. The teams 22 wins during the 2009 campaign is still the second most wins in a season by an ASUN team. In 2003 Tami Matheny earned Peach Belt Coach of the Year Honors and in 2010 Alessandro De Marzo earned ASUN Coach of the Year Honors. In 1992 Alan Ferguson was named the Division II South Region Coach of the Year. In 2013 Matthias Kidler became the only Spartan ever to win Conference Player of the Year.
 
The USC Upstate men's tennis program has produced nine ITA Division II Singles All-Americans. Andres Gonzalez (1991 & 1992), James Homan (1992 & 1993) and Stefan Dumitrescu (2006 & 2007) each earned the honor in consecutive seasons at USC Upstate. In 2007 the doubles pairing of Dumitrescu and Renzo Airaldi earned the Spartans only Doubles All-American accolade.
 
A quartet of men's tennis players currently reside in the USC Upstate Athletic Hall of Fame. Andres Gonzalez (1990-92) was the first men's tennis player in the history of the program to earn All-American honors, earning the honor in both seasons he played at the University. Gonzalez finished the 1992 season ranked No. 2 in the nation in doubles and No. 8 in the country in singles, turning in an 18-6 doubles record and a 21-7 singles mark. Gonzalez also advanced to the singles final in the Rolex Small College National Championship as a senior.
 
Kasper Nielsen (1994-96) earned All-America honors in 1995 and finished ranked inside the Top 10 nationally in singles. Nielsen finished his career with a 36-22 singles record and a 31-20 doubles mark. Off the court he was named to the Peach Belt Conference Honor Roll and was a GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-District Scholar.
 
Jose Luis Reyes (2001-05) a 2003 All-American, Reyes was a two-time Peach Belt All-Conference selection. In four season he helped the team to an overall record of 67-20 and a 25-5 mark in conference action. Reyes was a member of both the 2003 and 2005 regular season Peach Belt Championships. The Spartans made it to the NCAA Tournament all four year with Reyes competing and in 2004 they made it to the National round.
Diego Sist (2003-2006) in his senior season ranked No. 15 nationally and earned All-American honors. Sist was also a three-time All-Peach Belt selection and he helped the Spartans to a pair of conference championships in the early 2000s. Playing only at the top two singles flights, Sist compiled a career record of 53-21.
 
The Spartans have produced a total of 40 All-Conference selections over the years and 10 All-Freshman team members. USC Upstate has had 24 Player of the Week award winners and off the field 59 student-athletes have been recognized by conference offices for their work in the classroom. The Spartans have also produced 17 ITA Scholar-Athletes.  
 
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