VALDOSTA, Ga. – The nationally 35th-ranked University of South Carolina Aiken men's tennis team knocked off national No. 13 Valdosta State, 5-4, in its season opener on Friday.
USC Aiken (1-0) opened its win by taking two of the three doubles matches. The Pacer tandem of Kevin Zerath (Marseilles, France/Euromed Management Marseille) and Patrick Stiebinger (Weiden, Germany/Wichita State University) bested Konstantin Kutschenko and Mario Navarro, 8-6, in No. 1 doubles.
USC Aiken's No. 3 doubles team of Andy Quirk (Glasgow, Scotland/Wisconsin) and Bruno Orlandini (Araraquara, SP, Brazil/Longwood) downed Valdosta State's Joachim Schemm and Andrew Harvin by a score of 8-4 at No. 3 doubles.
USC Aiken picked up the match win over Valdosta State (0-1) by acquiring singles victories at No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 singles.
Lucas Gobbi (Santa Bárbara d'Oeste, Brazil/Colegio Politec) claimed the win at No. 4 singles, besting Valdosta State's Sebastian Jasyk 7-2, 6-3.
Quirk acquired a 6-3, 6-1 win over Tammo Haake at No. 5 singles. Orlandini then picked up the win at No. 6 singles by a score of 6-1, 6-0 over Harvin.
USC Aiken will next stay in the area for an exhibition against Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 2 in Tifton, Ga.
