LOS ANGELES, California - Junior Chris Cooprider won a key three-set match at No. 1 singles to lift No. 43 UNCW past No. 45 South Florida, 4-2, in an opening match of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend Saturday at Southern Cal's Marks Stadium.

        The Seahawks will now face No.1-ranked Southern Cal at 1 p.m. on Sunday, with the winner advancing to the Round of 16  at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Charlottesville, Va. The Trojans routed UNLV in the late match.

        "I'm very proud of the team effort that we brought today," said UNCW Head Coach Mait DuBois. "We were down in all three doubles matches and fought back to win the doubles point. We then had four matches remaining on court in the third set and were down in all four.

        "Chris (Cooprider) and Rafael (Aita) really stepped up big for us when we needed it. To see a young team like this compete with this kind of intensity is very pleasing. We accomplished another first for our program by advancing at a national event . We're very excited about the opportunity to play the No. 1 team in the country tomorrow."

        The Seahawks, the No. 2 seed, captured the doubles point with victories at the No. 1 and No. 3 slots. The top team of Cooprider and Kosta Blank were the first off the court with an 8-5 victory over Wael Kilani and Frederico Sabogal ,and the No. 3 tandem of Rafael Aita and Pedro Mol clinched the doubles point with an 8-6 decision over Sebastian Hagn and Lucas Marin-Salcedo.

        The Seahawks went up 2-0 when Blank cruised past Ravi Patel, 6-1, 6-2, at No. 4 singles before Marin-Salcedo got the Bulls on the board with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Michael Reilly. Aita then outlasted Sabogal, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, at No. 2 singles for a 3-1 lead before USF's Juan Carlos Acuna rallied for a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 win over Mol at No. 3.

        That left the match in the hands of Cooprider, who delivered with a gutsy 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 triumph over Kilani at No. 1 singles.