Oct. 17, 2014
Updated Singles Draw | Updated Doubles Draw
CARY, N.C. – South Carolina men’s tennis moved three entries into the round of 16 in the ITA Carolina Regional Friday at Cary Tennis Park. Two Gamecock seniors advanced in the singles draw as Thiago Pinheiro and Kyle Koch won three-set matches. Koch and doubles partner Andrew Adams won a pair of matches Friday to reach Saturday’s round of 16 in the doubles draw.
Four of the Gamecocks’ five singles matches Friday went to three sets with Pinheiro and Koch able to pull out victories. Pinheiro dropped his first set to UNC Wilmington’s Sam Williams in a rematch of the No. 3 match in the 2013 NCAA Tournament first-round match between the two schools. South Carolina’s senior found his footing in the second set, forcing a tiebreak, which he fought out for a 7-6 (5) win. Pinheiro needed a single service break in the third set to move on to the round of 16 at the event for the first time in his career.
Koch had also never progressed past the round of 32 at this event, and his matchup with No. 77 Phillipe Tsangarides of Coastal Carolina provided a significant obstacle. The two seniors traded the first two sets by 6-1 scores, with Tsangarides winning the second to force the decisive third set. The stalemate persisted throughout the final set, yielding a tiebreak to determine who would advance. Koch’s powerful game proved to be the different as he posted a 7-6 (5) victory to set up a rivalry match with Clemson’s Hunter Harrington, ranked No. 30 in the nation, on Saturday.
Like his classmates, Adams was forced into a three-set match against Oystein Steiro of North Carolina. Ranked 25th in the nation, Adams scored a late service break to win the first set 7-5. Steiro shook off the setback to win the next two sets 6-3, 6-1.
Sophomore Andrew Schafer stormed out of the gates against No. 7 Brayden Schnur of North Carolina, winning the first set 6-4. The Tar Heels’ sophomore adjusted quickly to win the second set 6-0 to set up the decisive third set. Schafer battled but could not get past the highly ranked Schnur, falling 6-3. Another Tar Heel, Jack Murray, ended the run of Gamecock freshman Harrison O’Keefe in the round of 32, scoring a 6-4, 6-0 win.
South Carolina sprinted out of the gate in doubles with all three teams winning their first-round matches. Thomas Mayronne and O’Keefe opend with an 8-3 win over College of Charleston’s Rodrigo Encinas and Zack Lewis before falling to Matt Brown and Ben Horts of Furman 8-4 in the round of 32. Schafer and Sam Swank similarly dispatched Charlotte’s Alex Callot and Forrest Edwards 8-3 in the opening round, but dropped a har-fought 8-6 match to North Carolina’s Murray and Ronnie Schneider.
Adams and Koch looked sharp throughout the day, defeating Wofford’s Rob Galloway and Haris Poric 8-3 in the first round Elon’s Jordan Kaufman and Joshua Luck 8-1 in the second. The Gamecock senios will take on Wake Forest’s tandem of Jonathan Ho and Skander Mansouri in the round of 16 Saturday.
The schedule for Saturday includes two rounds of singles play beginning at 9 a.m. with doubles round of 16 action to start at 2 p.m.
South Carolina Results
Singles
Rd. of 32
(7) Brayden Schnur (UNC) def. Andrew Schafer (SC) 4-6, 6-0, 6-3
Thiago Pinheiro (SC) def. Sam Williams (UNCW) 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4
Oystein Steiro (UNC) def. (25) Andrew Adams (SC) 5-7, 6-3, 6-1
Kyle Koch (SC) def. (77) Phillipe Tsangarides (CCU) 6-1, 1-6, 7-6 (5)
Jack Murray (UNC) def. Harrison O’Keefe (SC) 6-4, 6-0
Doubles
First Round (64)
Thomas Mayronne/Harrison O’Keefe (SC) def. Rodrigo Encinas/Zack Lewis (CofC) 8-3
Andrew Schafer/Sam Swank (SC) def. Alex Callot/Forrest Edwards (CHA) 8-3
Andrew Adams/Kyle Koch (SC) def. Rob Galloway/Haris Poric (WOF) 8-3
Second Round (32)
Matt Brown/Ben Horts (FUR) def. Mayronne/O’Keefe (SC) 8-4
Jack Murray/Ronnie Schneider (UNC) def. Schafer/Swank (SC) 8-6
Adams/Koch (SC) def. Jordan Kaufman/Joshua Luck (Elon) 8-1
