 |  |
Men’s Tennis to Open Spring Season at Gardner-Webb
Follow the Spartans on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The USC Upstate men's tennis team will open the 2012 spring season with a trip to Boiling Springs, N.C., to face Gardner-Webb Thursday afternoon.
The Spartans are 6-3 all-time against foes from the Big South Conference, but posted a 1-2 mark last season.
"After finishing third in the Atlantic Sun last year and knowing that we would have the opportunity to add fresh talent to the team, I have great expectations for the spring 2012 season," said head coach Dr. Oliver Trittenwein. "Ramiro Blanco leads our group of returnees. He was an All-A-Sun selection last season and had an amazing run during the fall. His brother, Gonzalo, had a strong freshman season and is now going full steam into his sophomore year with the knowledge of what he learned a season ago. We have several new faces that will be competing for Upstate for the first time. Matthias Kidler, Tyler Grove, Jacob Darling, Yvon Haessig and Pierre Vernin will compete in the A-Sun for the first time. With the exception of Matthias, all of our newcomers have collegiate experience and undoubtedly make our team very deep. We want to match what the 2011 team squad accomplished and more."
Spartan Volleys…
• Brothers Ramiro and Gonzalo Blanco claimed individual singles titles at the Elon Fall Invitational. Ramiro Blanco defeated a pair of top-four seeds to claim the A-1 singles title (David Hopkins (4), Wake Forest; Torsten Wietsoka (1), Duke).
• Matthias Kidler fell one set shy of the Qualifying Round at the ITA All-American Championships, while Ramiro Blanco and Edgar Rodriguez lost in the third-round.
• Ramiro Blanco/Matthias Kidler claimed the 'Draw A' doubles title at the GWU Fall Invitational while Gonzalo Blanco and Yvon Haessig were victorious in 'Draw B' doubles. In singles action, Ramiro Blanco (Flight No. 1), Matthias Kidler (Flight No. 2), Yvon Haessig (Flight No. 3) and Gonzalo Blanco (Flight No. 4) all claimed singles titles in Boiling Springs, N.C.
• Five of six Spartans advanced to the quarterfinal round in men's singles at the Upstate Fall Classic while all three doubles teams reached the quarterfinal round.
