Men beat U.S.C. after three-year wait

Continuing to steamroll over its opponents, the men's tennis team dismantled the South Carolina Gamecocks 7-0 . After sweeping N.C. State on Tuesday, the Blue Devils visited the Sam Daniel Tennis Stadium in Columbia, S.C., looking to gain the team's 18th win of the season, and second consecutive 7-0 victory.

Senior David Hall, the 12th-ranked player in the nation, confirmed his ranking as one of the elite players in the country, beating Jim Panagapoulus 6-4, 6-3. Second singles player and fellow senior Willy Quest had little difficulty in putting away Johan Sandberg, also winning in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4. Freshman Peter Ayers, Duke's number three singles player manhandled Mark Palus 6-2, 6-2.

The fourth, fifth and sixth singles matches were all struggles, with each lasting three sets. The Blue Devils captured all three wins showing more stamina and strength, easily winning the third set of each match. Senior Jason Rayman outlasted P.J. Langone 6-3, 5-7, 6-1. Playing in the fifth singles slot, Rob Chess defeated Ben Cook, in a match that featured two tie breakers. Chess rallied after losing the tiebreaker in the first set to escape with a 6-7, 7-6, 6-2 victory. Jordan Murray, like his teammate Chess, dropped the first set in a tiebreaker, but also rallied to win 6-7, 6-1, 6-3 over Jose Fontera.

In the doubles competition, the team of Hall and fellow seniors Lars Beck lost the eight game pro set 8-3. However, the other two teams were victorious, giving Duke the two doubles victories it needed to gain a point in the ITA's new doubles format. Ayers and Chess, playing second doubles, won a hardfought match against Cook and Rich Lynch, 8-6. The third doubles team had less difficulty in securing a win, as Philippe Moggio and Quest handily beat Panaganpoulus and Palus, 8-3.

With the win, the Blue Devils improved their record to 18-4. The victory also marked the first time that Duke has beaten the Gamecocks in the past three years, since Head Coach Jay Lapidus left South Carolina as an assistant to become Duke's Head Coach.

"We played one of the best matches of the year," Lapidus said. "We thought we would have a real tough match going in to it. I'm really proud with the team's effort."