South Carolina Defeats Clemson 5-2

March 24, 2010

Watch Clemson vs. South Carolina on TigerCast:Singles: #1 | #2 | #3Doubles: #1 | #2 | #3

CLEMSON, SC – South Carolina defeated Clemson 5-2 in a men’s intercollegiate tennis match at Clemson, SC Wednesday afternoon.

With the win, South Carolina improves to 8-7 overall, while Clemson falls to 15-2 this season. The Gamecocks are ranked 48th nationally in the latest ITA poll, while Clemson is ranked 33rd.

South Carolina clinched the doubles point as Ivan Cressoni and Ivan Machado defeated Carlos Alvarez and Juan Bolona of Clemson at number two doubles, 8-5.

Clemson tied the team score, 1-1 as Kevin Galloway defeated Cressoni of South Carolina 6-4, 6-4 at number three singles. Galloway has a 19-7 record overall in singles and a 15-2 mark in dual matches.

South Carolina took a 2-1 advantage as Alexander Kostanov defeated Clemson’s Zachary Rigsby 6-3, 7-6 at number five singles. Pedro Campos defeated Clemson’s Derek DiFazio 6-0, 7-5 at number two singles, giving the Gamecocks a 3-1 lead. Campos is now 12-1 overall in singles this season.

Diego Cubas clinched the match for the Gamecocks ad he defeated the Tigers’ Alvarez 6-2, 7-6 at number one singles. Machado defeated Zachary Rigsby of Clemson at number five singles 6-3, 7-6 giving South Carolina a 5-1 lead. In the last match off the courts, Bolona of Clemson defeated Johannes Pulsfort of South Carolina 7-5, 5-7, 6-1.

“The doubles points was very important today,” said Clemson Head Coach Chuck McCuen. “I thought we matched up well overall with South Carolina, but we just didn’t execute. We didn’t execute on the big points. I was disappointed in our lack of execution when it counted. We will have to regroup and get ready for conference matches this weekend.”

This was the 101st meeting between Clemson and South Carolina on the tennis courts. South Carolina now leads the series 60-39-2. The series started in 1925.

This is also the 100th year of Clemson tennis. Clemson first fielded men’s tennis in 1910 when two Tiger tennis players entered the annual state tournament.

Clemson will play at N.C. State on Friday and at Wake Forest on Sunday in Atlantic Coast Conference action. The Tigers will play at Georgia Tech next Wednesday.

South Carolina 5, Clemson 2

Doubles 1. Pedro Campos/Diego Cubas (SC) d. Derek DiFazio/Wes Moran (CU) 8-3 2. Ivan Cressoni/Ivan Machado (SC) d. Carlos Alvarez/Juan Bolona (CU) 8-5 3. Zachary Rigsby/Moritz Dettinger (CU) d. Johannes Pulsfort/Alexander Kostanov (SC) 8-4 Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2

Singles 1. (73) Diego Cubas (SC) d. Carlos Alvarez (CU) 6-2, 7-6 2. (125) Pedro Campos (SC) d. Derek DiFazio (CU) 6-0, 7-5 3. Kevin Galloway (CU) d. Ivan Cressoni (SC) 6-4, 6-4 4. Alexander Kostanov (SC) d. Wes Moran (CU) 6-2, 6-2 5. Ivan Machado (SC) d. Zachary Rigsby (CU) 6-3, 7-6 6. Juan Bolona (CU) d. Johannes Pulsfort (SC) 7-5, 5-7, 6-1 Order of Finish: 3, 4, 2, 1, 5, 6