Jan. 29, 2008

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Thanks to two wins over ranked players in the fall, junior Sandy Franz (Duesseldorf, Germany/Berufskolleg Hilden) has earned USC Upstate's first individual ranking as a Division I program, as he is currently 96th in the ITA Singles Rankings.

Paced by a tremendous fall, Franz finds himself in the ITA rankings after winning tournament titles at the USC Upstate Fall Invitational and the USC Fall Invitational, compiling an 11-2 singles mark. In doubles, Franz teamed with sophomore Renzo Airaldi (Lima, Peru/Domingo Faustino Sarmiento) to reach the semifinals in doubles at the ITA Regionals and completed the fall with a 7-5 record.

Franz has also played his best this season when playing players ranked in the ITA Preseason Top 125. He posted a three-set win against Florida's 91st-ranked Nestor Briceno, 3-6, 6-0, 6-4, at the Southern Intercollegiates. In another meeting against a ranked opponent, Franz downed Charlotte's 62nd-ranked Roy Sichel in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5.

Franz currently has a career record of 36-12 in singles after finishing 23-5 to earn All-Peach Belt Conference honors in 2007, the school's last in Division II. He is also 34-13 in doubles, giving him a career record of 70-25, which is 10th in school history in combined wins. Also a star in the classroom, Franz was a member of the CoSIDA Academic All-District Second Team in 2007.

USC Upstate will take to the courts again on Saturday, as they head to Georgia Tech for a tri-meet, beginning with a match with Georgia Southern at 6 p.m. before facing Tech on Sunday at 10 a.m.