Jan. 19, 2014

COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 18 South Carolina completed its doubleheader sweep with a 7-0 win over The Citadel Sunday evening at Carolina Tennis Center. The Gamecocks were efficient and effective on all courts in the nightcap as head coach Josh Goffi and assistant coach Ryan Young faced off against their college coach in Hall of Famer Chuck Kriese of The Citadel. The protégés got the win as South Carolina improved to 2-0 on the season.

“We wanted to build off the first match today, to cut out some of the sloppiness, and I think we did that,” South Carolina head coach Josh Goffi said. “We were pretty routine all the way around with very quick matches. The team went out and executed great, and the scores showed that when we got ahead we didn’t let it go. We played very efficient. When you’re playing non-SEC caliber teams you can get away with some sloppiness, but our goal was to be as clean as possible.

South Carolina overpowered The Citadel in the Nos. 2 and 3 spots as Tsvetan Mihov and Thiago Pinheiro escaped unscathed with a score of 8-0. Junior Andrew Adams and freshman Andrew Schafer didn’t give up a point in the set until the sixth game, tallying a score of 8-1 to deliver the doubles point for the Gamecocks.

In the No. 6 singles match, junior Ben Barnette was nearly perfect against the Bulldogs’ Joe Bove. Barnette was especially effective on Bove’s serve to score a 6-0, 6-0 victory and double the Gamecocks’ lead.

Adams established a quick lead in his No. 2 contest with Peter Bleach, despite falling behind in several games. He delivered when it counted with a 6-1 first-set win, then proved dominant in his second set, breezing to a 6-1 win.

In the No. 4 match, The Citadel’s Jackson Pride battled against No. 91 Schafer, but the Gamecocks’ freshman was too much to handle. Schafer followed his hard-fought win in the first half of Sunday’s doubleheader by cruising to a 6-1, 6-0 victory that clinched the team win for South Carolina.

No. 41 Mihov dominated his second singles match of the day against the Bulldogs’ No. 1 player, senior Elliot Speer. Coming out on fire after winning his first set 6-1, Mihov began moving his opponent from side-to-side, generating point after point in his 6-2 second-set victory.

Cox generated the sixth team point for the Gamecocks after a 6-2, 6-1 win over senior Dillon Berkabile in the No.5 match. Cox got a break early and another one late in the first set for a 6-2 win and continued to power past Berkabile in the second, 6-1.

Early service breaks set the tone for Sam Swank in both his sets against Oliver Dedding in the No. 5 match. The Gamecocks’ freshman jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first set en route to a 6-2 win. Dedding battled back in the second, but could not get past Swank’s serve in a 6-3 second-set loss to secure the sweep for the Gamecocks.

South Carolina returns to action on Sat., Jan. 25, at the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Starkville, Miss. The Gamecocks take on No. 21 Memphis at 10 a.m., and will play either No. 14 Mississippi State or No. 27 Harvard on Sunday.

#18 South Carolina 7, The Citadel 0

Doubles (Order of Finish: 2, 3*)
1. (24) Chip Cox/Kyle Koch (SC) def. Dillon Berkabile/Elliot Sperr (CIT) 6-3 suspended
2. Tsvetan Mihov/Thiago Pinheiro (SC) def. Peter Bleach/Jackson Pride (CIT) 8-0
3. Andrew Adams/Andrew Schafer (SC) def. Oliver Dedding/Connor Grady (CIT) 8-1

Singles (Order of Finish: 6, 2, 4*, 1, 3, 5)
1. (41) Tsvetan Mihov (SC) def. Elliot Sperr (CIT) 6-1, 6-2
2. Andrew Adams (SC) def. Peter Bleach (CIT) 6-1, 6-1
3. Chip Cox (SC) def. Dillion Berkabile (CIT) 6-2, 6-1
4. (91) Andrew Schafer (SC) def. Jackson Pride (CIT) 6-1, 6-0
5. Sam Swank (SC) def. Oliver Dedding (CIT) 6-2, 6-3
6. Ben Barnette (SC) def. Joe Bove (CIT) 6-0, 6-0