March 19, 2008

Complete Weekly Release in PDF Format

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The USC Upstate tennis teams will look to hold onto their perfect Atlantic Sun Conference records when Stetson and Florida Gulf Coast make the Northern swing through the Palmetto State. The men's team will face Stetson, which is ranked 59th in the latest ITA rankings, on Friday before FGCU comes to visit on Saturday. The women will face FGCU on Saturday after defeating Stetson, 5-2, on March 14.

Stetson will bring forth the toughest challenge of the young conference season for the Spartans, as the Hatters enter the week with a 13-3 record and a perfect 4-0 slate in the A-Sun. However, the Hatters will also face their toughest challenge of the season this weekend when running into the perfect Spartans and ETSU teams on back-to-back days. Both FGCU teams will head into the USC Upstate Tennis Complex looking for upsets of Spartan teams that made the NCAA Division II National Tournament in 2007.

Setting The Mark
Head coach Alessandro De Marzo, who earlier this season became the third coach in program history to reach 100 career wins, is now looking to assume the top spot in the women's program's history in career wins, entering the week needing just one win to set the mark. De Marzo, in his fourth year as head coach, tied the women's program record for wins on Friday with a 5-2 win over Stetson. The high-water mark was set by his predecessor, Tami Matheny, who won 57 matches from 1998-2004. De Marzo is currently 57-23 (.623) in his four seasons at Upstate. De Marzo has led the Spartans through their most successful three-year period in school history, leading the team to three straight NCAA Division II Tournament appearances from 2005-07.

Super-Novo
Junior Anna Novo set the school-record for singles wins in a season with her 23rd on Friday against Stetson. Novo passed the record set by herself and senior Diana Martinez, set by each with 22 wins in 2006-07. Novo, who has 58 singles wins in her career, posted a 6-2, 6-3 win over Valentina Galbarini at No. 1 singles to pace the Spartans to the 5-2 win. She also has 42 combined wins thanks to a 19-4 doubles record with partner Emilia Milovanovic, which is currently for second in school history and just two wins shy of senior Susana Hernandez's record of 44 combined wins set in 2006-07.

Sharing The A-Sun Honors
The men's and women's tennis teams got to share Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Week honors last week, the conference office announced on Friday, with junior Anna Novo earning the women's award and sophomore Javier Tori taking the men's honor.

Novo led the Spartans to wins over Austin Peay and A-Sun foes Lipscomb and Belmont, as Upstate started its first season in Division I 4-0 in the A-Sun. She posted a perfect 3-0 mark in singles and 2-0 mark in doubles during the week. The award is the fourth weekly award in school history for the No. 1 singles player, as she won the Peach Belt Player of the Week three times during the 2007 season.

Tori had a perfect 3-0 week, and won both his conference singles matches during the Spartans' trip to Nashville in convincing fashion, downing Lipscomb's Josh Cummings, 6-2, 6-0 at No. 3 singles and Belmont's Ignacio Gesto, 6-3, 6-0, helping the team to two 4-0 wins. The business administration major also posted a doubles win with Renzo Airaldi at No. 2 doubles at Lipscomb.

Renzo's Roll
Sophomore Renzo Airaldi is quickly nearing the school record of 27 singles wins set by James Homan during the 1991-92 season. Airaldi, who plays No. 2 singles for the Spartans, currently has an overall record of 23-5, just four wins away from the record. A 2007 Division II All-American as a doubles player, Airaldi saw action in just seven singles matches as a freshman, winning six, making his rise to the top of the Spartan lineup this season one of the most pleasant surprises on the team.

It's Always Better To Share
Junior Leandro Osorio is just two doubles wins away from becoming the fifth men's player in school history to reach 50 in a career. Osorio, who with senior partner Sebastian Gonzales-Orbegoso, have moved into the No. 1 doubles slot, has posted an impressive 48-18 career doubles record. He could join Gonzales-Orbegoso (52), Diego Sist (50), Jose Luis Reyes (63) and Stefan Dumitrescu (72) in the club.