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Spartan Tennis Sweeps A-Sun Weekly Awards
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SPARTANBURG, S.C. – After leading their respective squads to a season-opening win, USC Upstate tennis players Julie Bell (Lubbock, Texas) and Ramiro Blanco (Chascomus, Argentina) have been named the Atlantic Sun Players of the Week the conference office in Macon, Ga., announced today.
"Not only is this a tremendous honor for both Julie and Ramiro, it is a special honor to me as well," said Upstate head coach Dr. Oliver Trittenwein. "For Julie to receive this honor after just her first match at Upstate is a wonderful accomplishment. For us to bring in a new player that demonstrated such a strong effort is a great thing for the women's team as we look to climb the ranks of the A-Sun. Meanwhile, for Ramiro to have a strong showing and pick up a weekly honor at the beginning of his senior season is a huge accomplishment for him and hopefully it is a sign of things to come for our program."
In her Spartan debut, Bell helped guide the Spartans to a 5-2 win over Presbyterian College (1/28/12). In doubles action, Bell teamed with Ana-Sofia Camberos (San Luis Potosi, Mexico) at doubles No. 2 to claim an 8-4 win over PC's Cara Caruso and Patricia Alves.
Bell won a three-set thriller over PC's Greer Ransom. Bell claimed the first set 6-2 before dropping set two, 5-7. In the third-set tiebreaker, the Biology major posted a 10-4 win to claim the victory at singles No. 2.
Blanco, like Bell, improved to 1-0 in both doubles and singles action as the men's team downed Gardner-Webb (W, 5-2, 1/26/12). In doubles action, Blanco teamed with Matthias Kidler (Bremen, Germany) as the duo defeated GWU's Ernest Alberch and Joao Poli, 8-4, at doubles No. 1. The doubles win was the 47th of Blanco's career.
Thanks to a straight-set victory, Blanco moved into sole possession of sixth place in Upstate history with 54 career wins. He defeated Adam Knutsson-Sundblad, 6-2-6-1 at singles No. 2.
Both the men's and women's teams will hit the road for matches this weekend. The men are set for a pair of matches in Birmingham, Ala., as they will face UAB (Saturday) and Samford (Sunday). Meanwhile, the women's team will travel to face Coastal Carolina Saturday.
