Carolina Closes First Day at SEC Coaches Classic, Bulldog Scramble

Nov. 4, 2016

The Gamecock men’s tennis team closed out its first day at both the SEC Coaches Classic in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and the Bulldog Scramble in Athens, Ga. on Friday.

At the SEC Coaches Classic, in singles, Gabriel Friedrich and Harrison O’Keefe each posted a win to move on to their draw’s quarterfinals. Thomas Mayronne and Andrew Schafer dropped their openers but they will have a chance to redeem themselves in the consolation bracket. In doubles, the teams of Friedrich and O’Keefe and Mayronne and Schafer both went 1-1 on the day, and will play in their respective draw’s third place match on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. Following just the one round of doubles, the Gamecocks will play two rounds of singles.

“It’s great for the guys to compete against SEC opponents again,” said head coach Josh Goffi. “There’s a different type of pressure and intensity that comes with SEC play, and that’s why anyone can beat anyone in the draw and it showed today. We struggled to hold our focus throughout some of our matches and we paid for it. The boys are playing good tennis right now, but we are looking for the whole squad to play complete matches in singles and doubles tomorrow.”

Over at the Bulldog Scramble, freshman Scotty Cameron was solid in going 2-0 on the day in singles. Alex Fennell went 1-1, while Sam Swank finished 0-2. In doubles, Fennell and Swank fell to Georgia’s Duncan and Reinberg. Day two action is set to begin at 10 a.m. with two rounds of doubles, followed by one round of singles in the afternoon.

“We finished strong in the afternoon and I think the guys made good adjustments form the morning,” said assistant coach Kyle Bailey. “Hopefully we can keep building on each match and start off well tomorrow with doubles.”

FRIDAY’S RESULTS
SEC COACHES CLASSIC
Doubles | Ellis Ferreira Draw
QF – Friedrich/O’Keefe (SC) def. Benson/Stefanik (Kentucky), 8-7(6)
SF – Osama/Richey (Alabama) def. Friedrich/O’Keefe (SC), 8-6

Doubles | Andy Solis Draw
QF – Mayronne/Schafer (SC) def. Allwardt/Ross (Vanderbilt), 8-5
SF – Dominguez/Yates (Kentucky) def. Mayronne/Schafer (SC), 8-7(3)

Singles | Jeff Robinson Draw
R16 -McClain Kessler (Florida) def. Andrew Schafer (SC), 6-3, 6-4
R16 – Harrison O’Keefe (SC) def. Nikola Samardzic (LSU), 6-1, 6-4

Singles | Francisco Rodriguez Draw
R16 – Gabriel Friedrich (SC) def. Tate Allwardt (Vanderbilt), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
R16 – Tim Sandkaulen (Mississippi) def. Thomas Mayronne (SC), 6-4, 7-5

BULLDOG SCRAMBLE
Doubles
Duncan/Reinberg (UGA) def. Fennell/Swank (SC), 8-5

Singles
Scotty Cameron (SC) def. Kevin Bondar (Miami), 6-4, 7-5
Scotty Cameron (SC) def. Phillip Gresk (GT), 3-6, 6-1, 7-5
Dennis Uspensky (Wake Forest) def. Alex Fennell (SC), 6-1, 6-4
Alex Fennell (SC) def. Chris Yun (SC), 6-2, 6-1
Nile Clark (Miami) def. Sam Swank (SC), 6-3, 7-6 (5)
Michael Kay (GT) def. Sam Swank (SC), 6-4, 7-5