No. 16 Gamecocks Drop Tight Match in Blue Gray Final
Feb. 25, 2017
COLUMBIA, S.C. — No. 16 South Carolina men’s team put up a tough fight with two matches decided by third sets before falling to No. 46 Rice, 4-2, in the championship match of the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic at the Lagoon Park Tennis Center in Montgomery, Ala. Saturday. The Gamecocks (10-2) defeated Texas Tech, 4-3, and Auburn, 4-1, on their way to the final.
The Gamecocks advanced to the final of the Blue Gray Invitational after defeating Auburn in the second round 4-1. Carolina took the doubles point Friday, Feb. 24, winning in number one and two doubles. The tandem of Alex Fennell and Sam Swank defeated their first ranked opponent of the season, Maxime Hinnisdaels and Conner Huertas del Pino (17), 6-4. Yancy Dennis and Harrison O’Keefe followed suit, clinching the doubles point with a 6-4 win over Edward Nguyen and Olle Thestrup.
South Carolina clinched the match in straight-set singles wins across the board. Schafer was the first to clinch his point, defeating his opponent 6-2, 6-1 on court five. Thomas Mayronne wasn’t far behind, blanking his opponent in the second set to increase the Gamecock lead to 3-0.
O’Keefe dominated his first set 6-1 and clinched the match for the Gamecocks in tiebreak fashion over Carles Sarrio on court two. Dennis fell on court three 6-4, 6-2 simultaneously to make a 4-1 final score, sending South Carolina to the championship match.
After a pair of hard-fought losses, the Gamecocks found themselves trailing 1-0 after doubles play. The duo of Fennell and Swank fell first to Rice’s ranked pair Tommy Bennett and David Warren (12), 6-3. Dennis and O’Keefe fell in a 7-5 battle in No. 2 doubles to send the Gamecocks into singles play.
Schafer evened it up, putting the Gamecocks on the board with a 6-3, 7-6 victory on court four and staying perfect on the weekend. O’ Keefe fell in the No. 2 spot putting Rice up 2-1. Fennell found his rhythm in his second set, downing his opponent 7-5, 6-3 to tie it back up.
Courts one, three and five all went to close, three-set matches to fight for the title, but the Gamecocks eventually fell on courts three and five to make a 4-2 final score.
Quoting Coach Josh Goffi
“I’m so proud of our guys. We came up short today and that’s the way it goes sometimes. We were down the entire way and could have easily tapped out, but they fought their tails off and finally put themselves in position to win with the match tied at 2-2. Gabe had match points at one and Yancy served for the match at three. I can’t ask for much more than that from our guys. I am tremendously proud of the team.”
Up Next
The Gamecocks return to action to open their SEC slate with a home match against LSU Friday, March 3 at 3 p.m. at the Carolina Tennis Center. Admission and parking for all home tennis matches is free of charge.
