Men's Tennis . April 10, 2024

Men’s Tennis Sweeps Midweek Doubleheader

Columbia, S.C. – No. 21 South Carolina men’s tennis swept its midweek doubleheader on Wednesday at the Carolina Tennis Center. The Gamecocks tallied a 4-0 win over South Carolina State and a 4-1 victory over North Carolina A&T.

Against South Carolina State, the doubles point was close with all three courts needed for the decision. The Bulldogs were first to claim a victory with a 6-3 win from the top of the lineup but South Carolina evened things with a 6-3 win of their own from the bottom of the lineup.

The decision fell to the No. 2 position where Toby Samuel and Carter Morgan were in a close battle. The Gamecock duo fell a break at 2-3 but immediately broke back for 3-3 with each team then holding serve to the end to force a tiebreaker. The breaker was also an even contest with extra points needed for the decision but the Gamecocks came out on the right side of it 9-7 to clinch the doubles point.

In singles, freshman Jelani Sarr was first to complete his match which he did in a complete shutout. The Gamecock claimed the win 6-0, 6-0 for his tenth dual win of the season.

The next Gamecock point also came from an underclassman with Lucas Andrade da Silva tallying a 6-2, 6-2 win from the No. 5 position.

James Story recorded the clinch for South Carolina, winning his match on Court 2 6-3, 6-3.

Against North Carolina A&T, the doubles point came quicker for the Gamecocks with South Carolina tallying a 6-1 win from the No. 2 position and a 6-2 win from the No. 3 position to clinch the point.

In singles play, a point went to the Aggies before the matches started since South Carolina only had five players available for singles and were forced to forfeit the No. 6 match.

The first match to finish came from Samuel at the top of the lineup as he claimed his win 6-1, 6-0 for his 92^nd career singles victory.

Sarr tallied his second singles win of the day to claim the next point for South Carolina. The freshman won his match 6-1, 6-3 at the No. 4 position and he was followed by fellow freshman Sean Daryabeigi who clinched the match from No. 3 in a 6-3, 6-4 result.

South Carolina will continue action on the road next, traveling to Gainesville to wrap up the SEC season against Florida. The meeting between the Gamecocks and Gators will take place on Sunday, April 14 beginning at 11:00 a.m.

For all the latest South Carolina men’s tennis information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockMTennis).

(21) South Carolina 4, South Carolina State 0

Doubles (order of finish: 1, 3, 2)

Aissa Benchakroun/Benjamin Niv (SCST) def. Lucas da Silva/James Story (SC) 6-3
Toby Samuel/Carter Morgan (SC) def. Novak Novakovic/Mikalai Bankou (SCST) 7-6 (9-7)
Sean Daryabeigi/Jelani Sarr (SC) def. Gabriel Johnson/Ivan Pauliuchenka (SCST) 6-3

Singles (order of finish: 4, 5, 2)

#15 Toby Samuel (SC) vs. Mikalai Bankou (SCST) 6-3, 5-4, unfinished
James Story (SC) def. Novak Novakovic (SCST) 6-3, 6-3
Sean Daryabeigi (SC) vs. Gabriel Johnson (SCST) 6-3, 3-1, unfinished
Jelani Sarr (SC) def. Benjamin Niv (SCST) 6-0, 6-0
Lucas da Silva (SC) def. Ivan Pauliuchenka (SCST) 6-2, 6-2
Carter Morgan (SC) vs. Luka Stefanovic (SCST) 5-7, 0-5, unfinished

(21) South Carolina 4, North Carolina A&T 1

Doubles (order of finish: 2, 3)

Toby Samuel/Carter Morgan (SC) vs. Esteban Lopez/Lucas Coupu-Moison (NCAT) 4-3, unfinished
Lucas da Silva/James Story (SC) def. Ian Pedersen/Said Akbarov (NCAT) 6-1
Sean Daryabeigi/Jelani Sarr (SC) def. Kaua Santos/Mathieu Dussaubat (NCAT) 6-2

Singles (order of finish: 6, 1, 4, 3)