Jan. 29, 2008

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SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The USC Upstate women's tennis team will kick off its DI dual meet era on Thursday, as it travels to the Southern Conference's Davidson for a 3 p.m. match. The Spartans, who are coming off a successful fall season, posted a 21-6 record in 2007 and made it to the Division II Nationals for the first time in school history. The team is led by junior Anna Novo, a two-time DII All-American, who posted a 22-4 combined record in the fall. The Wildcats are 2-1 after a 7-0 win over Gardner-Webb and a 7-0 loss to No. 40 North Carolina State. They are led by senior All-Southern Conference selection Kelsey Linville.

On Friday, the Spartans will return home for the first home dual meet in the DI era, hosting North Carolina A&T, which is 0-1 on the season after a 7-0 loss to UNC Asheville.

Men's Tennis Heads For Georgia Tech For Tri-Meet
After a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to Davidson to open their 2007, the USC Upstate men's tennis team heads to Georgia Tech this weekend for a tri-meet with Tech and Georgia Southern in search of its first DI tennis win. The tri-meet starts on Saturday as the Spartans face 1-1 Georgia Southern. The Eagles beat North Florida, 5-2, last week. Georgia Tech, who the Spartans face first Sunday, is 2-0 after 7-0 wins over Lipscomb and Belmont. The Yellow Jackets are led by 82nd-ranked Guillermo Gomez.

Franz Earns Spartans First DI Ranking
Thanks to two wins over ranked players in the fall, junior Sandy Franz 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. 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.

A Historical Group
Heading into the 2007-08 season, all six returners to the Spartans had already ethched their names into the school's record book. All six players are in the top 15 in the school's combined (singles and doubles) wins charts. Senior Susana Hernandez, who finished the fall with seven singles wins and six doubles wins moved into second place in school history with 100 wins behind only senior Diana Martinez, who has 110. Junior Anna Novo, thanks to a remarkable 22-4 combined record, moved from a tie for ninth to sixth in school history with 84 career wins. Junior Maria Herrera, with a 11-6 record now has 73 career wins, 10th-best in school history, as she passed classmate Daniela Lovera, who, with 62 wins, was sidelined with an injury this fall. Junior Vivian Neuenschwander, thanks to a 8-6 combined record, is 11th in school history with 61 combined wins.

Sebastian's Assault On The Record Book
Senior Sebastian Gonzales-Orbegoso is quickly rising through the USC Upstate record book. The No. 5 singles player has a 43-25 career singles record, which stands tied for eighth in school history in singles wins with Rudy Vargas (1991-95). His 46-26 career doubles record is currently fourth in wins in school history, just four short of Diego Sist (2002-06) and third place. His 89 combined wins is fifth in school history, five shy of passing Jorge Ventura (1993-96) for fourth.

Novo's 90
Junior Anna Novo enters the weekend looking to get into position to become the seventh player in school history with 90 wins in their career. The No. 1 singles and doubles player has posted an impressive 47-15 mark in singles play during her career and has added a 37-26 mark in doubles. The two-time Division II All-American posted a 12-2 singles mark in the fall and added a 10-2 mark in doubles with partner freshman Emilia Milovanovic. Novo won singles tournament titles at the Upstate Fall Tournament and the Wolfpack Invitational and added doubles titles at both tournaments as well.

Winning Ways
At the end of the fall season, the Upstate women had posted a 58-31 (.652) combined record in their first fall tournament season at the Division I level. The men finished the fall at a combined 70-34, a winning percentage of .673.