Feb. 7, 2016

RALEIGH, N.C. — No. 55 South Carolina men’s tennis earned a sweep of Bryant University before falling in a road contest to No. 32 NC State, 4-3, on Sunday at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center. The Gamecocks moved to 5-4 this spring with all four losses to teams who are currently ranked in the top-75 of the Oracle/ITA Rankings.

The Gamecocks got the day started with a 4-0 win over Bryant University. Doubles wins by sophomore Harrison O’Keefe and junior Alex Fennell at No. 1 and sophomore Gabriel Freidrich and junior Sam Swank at No. 2 put South Carolina on top 1-0. O’Keefe, ranked No. 65 in singles, quickly put away his match, 6-0, 6-2, to extend the Gamecock lead to 2-0. South Carolina continued its flurry with straight-set wins by Fennell, ranked No. 116 in singles, at No. 1 and sophomore Thomas Mayronne at No. 4.

In the afternoon session, NC State scored doubles wins at courts two and three to go up 1-0. The Wolfpack then took a 2-0 lead as senior Simon Norenius defeated Fennell at No. 2, but O’Keefe powered past freshman Ivan Saveljic, 6-2, 6-2, to pull the Gamecocks back within one.

Friedrich and junior Andrew Schafer both started their second sets well after dropping their opening sets. Friedrich was even at 2-2 at court one before losing the final four games. Schafer was a game away from forcing a third set at court four, but couldn’t hold on as NC State was able to clinch the victory.

Playing out the last two matches, Mayronne put together a strong performance at No. 5 to give the Gamecocks their second point, winning his first set, 6-0, and the third-set super tiebreak, 10-8. Freshman Yancy Dennis moved to 3-0 this spring in singles with an impressive 6-2, 6-4 victory that made the final margin, 4-3 in favor of the home team.

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