WINGATE, N.C. – The nationally 30th-ranked University of South Carolina Aiken men's tennis team closed out its 2013 regular-season with a thrilling 5-4 win over No. 42 Wingate on Wednesday at the WU Tennis Complex.
In the women's match, the nationally 49th Wingate women (16-5) claimed a 6-3 win over the USC Aiken women (10-10).
The USC Aiken men (11-6) put together an impressive rally in singles to pick up the win over the Wingate men (14-9).
After losing all three doubles matches, the Pacer men entered singles needing to rally and they did just that, winning five of the six singles flights to acquire the 5-4 win.
USC Aiken sealed the match with a win at No. 6 singles with Bruno Orlandini (Araraquara, SP, Brazil/Longwood) garnering a 6-2, 6-4 win over Wingate's Ryan Forbes.
Ettore Damiani (Genoa, Italy/University of Genoa) closed out the regular-season claiming his 15th straight singles win with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 win over Wingate's Neal Towlson at No. 2 singles.
The Pacers lost two of the three matches in doubles in the women's match with the tandem of Margot Simon (Nantes, France/St. Joseph de Loquidy) and Franziska Regel (Hamburg, Germany/Gymnasium Farmsen) obtaining USC Aiken's lone doubles point with a 8-4 win over Morgan Winston and Kelli Ferguson at No. 2 doubles.
Simon and Julia Arruda (Valinhos, Brazil/Anglo Coc Valinhos) picked up USC Aiken's lone wins in singles with Simon winning at No. 1 singles and Arruda picking up the win at No. 5 singles. Arruda has now won four straight singles matches.
The Pacer tennis teams will next conclude their week by competing in the Peach Belt Conference Tennis Championships at the Dr. Eddie Floyd Florence Tennis center in Florence, S.C. The league tennis championships will run Friday, April 12-Sunday, April 14.
Both the Pacer men and women are seventh seeds in the championship.
The seventh-seeded USC Aiken women will open the Peach Belt Conference Women's Tennis Championship with an 8 a.m. match against second-seeded Columbus State at 8 a.m. on Friday, April 12. The winner of the match will move on to the tournament semifinals where they will take on the winner of the third-seeded Francis Marion-sixth-seeded Augusta State match at 8 a.m. on Saturday, April 13.
The loser of the #7 USC Aiken-#2 Columbus State match will take on the loser of the #3 Francis Marion-#6 Augusta State match in the women's elimination bracket at 2 p.m. on Friday, April 12.
The Pacer men will commence the Peach Belt Conference Men's Tennis Championship by squaring off against second-seeded Lander at 11 a.m. on Friday, April 12. The winner of the match will advance to the tournament semifinals where they will face the winner of the third-seeded Columbus State-sixth-seeded Francis Marion match at 12 p.m. on Saturday, April 13.
The loser of the #7 USC Aiken-#2 Lander match will take on the loser of the #3 Columbus State-#6 Francis Marion match in the men's elimination bracket at 5 p.m. on Friday, April 12.
For more information on the 2013 Peach Belt Conference Tennis Championships, please visit the official championship website: http://www.peachbeltconference.org/information/13tennistournament/index
