FLORENCE, S.C. – The seventh-seeded University of South Carolina Aiken tennis teams both bowed out of the Peach Belt Conference Tennis Championships on Saturday morning at the Dr. Eddie Floyd Florence Tennis Center.
The sixth-seeded/nationally 27th-ranked Francis Marion men (14-8) bested the seventh-seeded/nationally 30th-ranked USC Aiken men (11-8), 5-3.
The sixth-seeded/nationally 33rd-ranked Augusta State women (15-8) narrowly escaped the USC Aiken women (10-12), 5-4.
In the men's match, Francis Marion opened the match by sweeping doubles.
USC Aiken would claim three wins in singles, but it would not be enough in the narrow loss. The Pacers obtained singles wins at No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 singles.
Ettore Damiani (Genoa, Italy/University of Genoa) defeated Francis Marion's Arnaud Holl 6-2, 6-2 at No. 3 singles, while USC Aiken's Andy Quirk (Glasgow, Scotland/Wisconsin) downed Eimon Heywood 6-1, 6-1 at No. 4 singles. Lucas Gobbi (Santa Bárbara d'Oeste, Brazil/Colegio Politec) obtained a 6-1, 6-3 win over Tim Ruepke at No. 5 singles.
In the women's match, USC Aiken commenced the match by taking two out of the three doubles matches. The USC Aiken women won at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles.
In No. 1 doubles, Shauna Williams (Columbia, S.C./Broward Community College) and Giovanna Ramos (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Externato Mater Domus) bested Augusta State's Victoria Lindqvist and Liv Pettersson, 8-3. USC Aiken's tandem of Franziska Regel (Hamburg, Germany/Gymnasium Farmsen) and Margot Simon (Nantes, France/St. Joseph de Loquidy) defeated Roberta Oliveira and Julie Fontaine, 8-6, at No. 2 doubles.
USC Aiken also won at No. 1 singles and No. 2 singles in the match.
Simon downed Lindqvist 7-5, 6-2 at No. 1 singles, while Ramos bested Pettersson 7-5, 0-6, 6-1 at No. 2 singles.
