Nationally-Ranked Pacer Men Sting Bees in Last Match of Grueling Weekend

SAVANNAH, Ga. - The NCAA Division II 17^th-ranked USC Aiken men's tennis team closed out an incredibly tough weekend with a 5-0 victory over NAIA 19^th-ranked Savannah College of Art and Design at the Savannah Yacht Club.

The victory concluded a day in which the USC Aiken men's and women's tennis teams played two of the top programs in all of college tennis.

Both the USC Aiken men and women opened Sunday by taking on the top-ranked and back-to-back defending NCAA Division II national champions Armstrong Atlantic State. Both the Pacer men and women fell 9-0 to the Pirates, who are ranked No. 1 currently in both NCAA Division II men's and women's tennis.

After taking on the Pirates in the morning, the USC Aiken men and women stayed in the Savannah area to tangle with the Bees of SCAD. The Pacer women were unable to knock off the NAIA ninth-ranked Bees in a 6-1 loss, but the Pacer men easily walked away with the victory over the nationally-ranked Bee men.

Stephanie Humphrey (Harpendon, England) claimed the lone win for the Pacer women on Sunday, downing SCAD's Romina Mrochen at No. 2 singles.

The USC Aiken men made short order of the Bees by rushing out to a doubles sweep. The Pacer No. 1 duo of Gregory Andrade (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Juan Xavier Ponce (Miami, Fla.) defeated SCAD's top duo of Dean Loock and Moerkerken, 8-5. In No. 2 doubles, USC Aiken's Nicolas Markiewicz (Liege, Belgium) and Nathan Berlyn (Sydney, Australia) downed SCAD's Romeo Juhasz and Rob Jennings by the score of 8-3.

In the third doubles flight, USC Aiken's Filipe Garcia (Valinhos, Brazil) and Juan Guglielmeti (Mar del Plata, Argentina) were easy winners with an 8-0 win over Miguel Harlaque and Andy Hernandez.

The Pacers made sure that they closed things out without needing more with Garcia and Ben Klaas (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) picking up straight sets victories at No. 4 and No. 5 singles. None of the other singles matches need to be completed.

The victory improved the nationally-ranked Pacers to 4-3 on the 2010 season. The Pacer men are now 0-2 in Peach Belt Conference action after the loss to the Pirates on Sunday morning.

The USC Aiken women are now 2-4 on the 2010 season overall. Like the men, they are also 0-2 in the young season in the PBC.

The Pacer men and women will next travel to Hartsville, S.C. to face off with Coker on Wednesday, Feb. 24. The matches are slated to get underway at 2 p.m.