Gamecocks Drop Heartbreaker To No. 26 Auburn In Home Finale

April 6, 2008

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Gamecock men’s tennis team suffered a heartbreaking 4-3 defeat to No. 26 Auburn on Sunday at the Sam Daniel Tennis Facility. The match marked the home regular-season finale for the Gamecocks. South Carolina falls to 9-11 overall, including a 1-9 tally against league opponents, while Auburn improves to 10-10 with a 4-6 mark in SEC action. The South Carolina athletics department officially dedicated the newly placed gazebo to Susan DeMars, the late wife of Gamecock head coach Kent DeMars in a ceremony prior to Sunday’s match.

South Carolina’s duo of Yevgeny Supeko and Thomas Stoddard captured an 8-3 victory on court three in doubles play, but the Tigers rallied for victories on courts one and two to take the point. Auburn’s Alexey Tsyrenov and Terence Nugent captured an 8-3 victory on court one over Carolina’s Pedro Campos and Johannes Pulsfort, and Tim Puetz and Lukas Marsoun captured an 8-5 victory over USC’s Diego Cubas and Ivan Cressoni on court two to secure the point.

Singles proved a completely different story as the last match in play proved to be the deciding point on the day. Cubas picked up Carolina’s first victory on court two, securing a 7-5, 6-1 win over Puetz to even the overall score at 1-1. Supeko cruised on court one, defeating Tsyrenov in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4, and Campos followed with a hard-fought 6-1, 7-5 victory over Marsoun on court three for a 3-1 overall Gamecock advantage. Campos trailed 2-5 in the second set, but won the next five games to secure the point for the Gamecocks.

Auburn followed with victories on courts six and five, respectively, to knot the overall score at 3-3, making court four the focal point of the match. Carolina’s Pulsfort and Auburn’s Pawel Dilaj battled for nearly three hours, as Pulsfort took the first set, 7-5, and Dilaj answered with a 6-4 victory in set two to push the match into a third and final set.

Both players battled through the heat of the afternoon as the third set began with each side taking a game before Pulsfort pulled ahead, 2-1. Dilaj rallied however, winning the next five points for the deciding 6-2 upperhand.

The Gamecocks travel to intra-state rival Clemson on April 9 for a non-conference match set to begin at 2:30 p.m. ET. South Carolina concludes SEC action at No. 11 Florida on April 12.

Complete match results are listed below:

No. 26 Auburn 4, South Carolina 3
Doubles:
1. Tsyrenov/Nugent (AU) def. Campos/Pulsfort (SC) 8-3
2. Puetz/Marsoun (AU) def. Cubas/Cressoni (SC) 8-5
3. Supeko/Stoddard (SC) def. Krnjetin/Dilaj (AU) 8-3
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2

Singles:
1. Yevgeny Supeko (SC) def. Alexey Tsyrenov (AU) 6-2, 6-4
2. Diego Cubas (SC) def. Tim Puetz (AU) 7-5, 6-1
3. Pedro Campos (SC) def. Lukas Marsoun (AU) 6-1, 7-5
4. Pawel Dilaj (AU) def. Johannes Pulsfort (SC) 5-7, 6-4, 6-2
5. Milan Krnjetin (AU) def. Ivan Cressoni (SC) 6-0, 7-6
6. Alex Petropoulos (AU) def. Jaime Cuellar (SC) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3, 6, 5, 4*