| 4/9/2006
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — No. 56 South Carolina extended their SEC winning streak to four matches when they defeated No. 63 Vanderbilt in Nashville, 5-2. The Commodores (7-12, 2-8) were unable to match Friday’s winning doubles performance against No. 12 Florida, and dropped the point 1-2 against the Gamecocks (13-11, 5-5). The ever-lively VU tandem of Nik Cromydas/Nathan Sachs pulled off the only win, following losses from No. 40 Evan Dufaux/Andy Mack, and Ryan Preston/Jordan Magarik. “Doubles was not what I was hoping for. We did a great job with it on Friday and couldn’t do the same today,” VU Head Coach Ian Duvenhage. The ‘Dores hung with the Gamecocks throughout the first sets of singles, with Ryan Preston, Andy Mack, and Nik Cromydas all taking wins, and Jordan Magarik and Nathan Sachs staying within two games. Freshman Cromydas (11-8, 2-8) was the only ‘Dore to follow with a win in the second set, defeating USC’s Thomas Stoddard at No. 5 (7-5, 7-5). “I feel like we are capable of wining a match like this. Andy, Evan, Nathan, and Jordan were all capable of defeating their opponents. The problem is that we’re not expecting it to happen because it hasn’t really happened with Ryan Preston was close to defeating USC’s Tom Eklund in the third of No. 1 singles, but Eklund retired, forfeiting the win to Preston (6-4, 3-6, 5-4). The Commodores will play their last regular season match on Saturday in Lexington against the No. 21 Wildcats. The ‘Dores will follow up with the SEC tournament the next week on April 20 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. RESULTS |
