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No. 14 Gamecocks defeat No. 24 Michigan State 4-2
Men's Tennis  . 

No. 14 Gamecocks defeat No. 24 Michigan State 4-2

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The No. 14 South Carolina men’s tennis team defeated No. 24 Michigan State 4-2 to cap off the ITA Kickoff Weekend. The Gamecocks earned the doubles point and won straight sets on three singles courts against ranked opponents to take the victory. 

South Carolina grabbed early momentum in doubles as the top and bottom of the lineup jumped out to quick leads. While Max Stenzer and Sean Daryabeigi faced a 5-2 deficit on court two, the duos of Lucas Andrade da Silva and Paul Barbier Gazeu at the No. 1 position and Atakan Karahan and Cole Henceroth at the No. 3 position surged ahead to 5-2 simultaneously. Karahan and Henceroth defeated the No. 76-ranked Spartan pair, 6-2, followed by da Silva and Gazeu’s 6-2 win over the No. 14-ranked tandem to secure the opening point.

Singles play opened split for both teams as Daryabeigi, da Silva, and Karahan all opened with 6-3 first-set wins while the other three Gamecocks fell in their respective opening sets. For the second match this season, Daryabeigi picked up the first singles win of the match for the Gamecocks in a ranked victory, defeating No. 14 Ozan Baris to advance the score to 2-0. 

The Spartans got on the board with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Stenzer from the No. 5 position to cut back on the Gamecocks’ lead, but da Silva pulled out a top-five win by taking down No. 3 in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 to come within one of clinching the match.

Again the Spartans closed in with a win on court three over Gazeu. The redshirt freshman fought during his second set, overcoming a 1-3 deficit to come within one at 3-4, but was unable to complete the comeback as Taym Alazmeh defeated him 6-4, 6-4.

For the second match this season, it was sophomore Karahan who clinched the win for South Carolina from the No. 3 position, defeating No. 103 6-3, 6-4 to pick up the third ranked singles win of the day.

Up next the Gamecocks travel to NC State for a 12:00 p.m. match on Sunday, Feb. 1.

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

(14) South Carolina 4, (24) Michigan State 2

DOUBLES (order of finish: 3,1)

  1. Lucas da Silva/Paul Barbier Gazeu def. No. 14 Danial Rakhmatullayev/Taym Alazmeh 6-2
  2. Ozan Baris/Matthew Forbes led No. 31 Sean Daryabeigi/Max Stenzer 5-2, unfinished
  3. Atakan Karahan/Cole Henceroth def. No. 76 Mitchell Sheldon/David Saye 6-2

SINGLES (order of finish: 2,5,1,3,4)

  1. No. 80 Lucas da Silva (SC) def. No. 3 Matthew Forbes (MSU) 6-3, 6-2
  2. Sean Daryabeigi (SC) def. No. 14 Ozan Baris (MSU) 6-3, 6-3 
  3. Taym Alazmeh (MSU) def No. 55 Paul Barbier Gazeu (SC) 6-4, 6-4
  4. Atakan Karahan (SC) def. No. 103 David Saye 6-3, 6-4
  5. Danial Rakhmatullayev def. No. 104 Max Stenzer 6-3, 7-5 
  6. Charlie Swaine (SC) led Mitchell Sheldon (MSU) 4-6, 6-4, 1-1 unfinished

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