Sept. 23, 2011
ATHENS, Ga. – South Carolina men’s tennis posted wins in four singles and one doubles match in the first day of action at the Southern Intercollegiates. Playing at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex at University of Georgia, the Gamecocks picked up two wins in each of the singles brackets and split their matches in the top doubles bracket.
In the Division I singles bracket, Nick Jones continued his solid fall by gutting out a three-set win over Virginia Tech’s Mauricio Antun. The Gamecocks’ sophomore fought through a first-set tiebreaker to win the set 7-6 but dropped the second 2-6. Showing the benefit of a summer spent focused on improving his fitness as well as his game, Jones battled in the third set, holding steady until a late service break yielded a 7-5 victory. He will play Georgia’s Sadio Doumba, ranked No. 24 in the nation, in the round of 16 on Saturday.
Also in the top bracket, freshman Carl Eguez bounced back from an injury that forced him to pull out of the Duke Fab 4 Invite last weekend to roll past Stetson’s Didrik Berg 6-1, 6-2. Freshman Andrew Adams and sophomore Chip Cox dropped their first-round matches in the Division I bracket. They will continue playing in the consolation bracket on Saturday.
In the Division II bracket, Gamecock freshmen Ben Barnette and Kyle Koch lost just three games each to collect the first victories of the their college careers. Barnette captured his win with a perfect 6-0 second set to push past Jorge Varon of East Tennessee State. He will Julian Dehn of Minnesota in the second round on Saturday. Koch was similarly efficient in his 6-1, 6-2 first-round win over Liberty’s Wayne Harrell. He will take on Sean Weber of NC State in the next round. South Carolina senior Henry Walker dropped his first-round contest to Parul Verna of Eastern Kentucky and will face Georgia Tech’s Eduardo Segura in the consolation bracket.
In doubles Division I bracket action, Cox and Koch combined for an 8-5 second-round win over Minnesota’s tandem of Phillip Arndt and Mathieu Froment. Adams and Jones battled to the bitter end but fell 9-7 to Panav Jha and Eric Quigley of Kentucky. Barnette and Eguez will play their second-round match in the Division II bracket on Saturday morning.
South Carolina Results
Singles Division I Round of 64
Olivier Borsos (LSU) def. Andrew Adams (SC) 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (3)
Nick Jones (SC) def. Mauricio Antun (VT) 7-6 (4), 2-6, 7-5
(97) Juan Melian (GT) def. Chip Cox (SC) 6-4, 6-3
Carl Eguez (SC) def. Didrik Berg (ST) 6-1, 6-2
Singles Division II Round of 64
Ben Barnette (SC) def. Jorge Varon (ETS) 6-3, 6-0
Parul Verna (EKU) def. Henry Walker (SC) 6-3, 6-0
Kyle Koch (SC) def. Wayne Harrell (LU) 6-1, 6-2
Doubles Division I Second Round
Chip Cox/Kyle Koch (SC) def. Phillip Arndt/Mathieu Froment (MN) 8-5
Panav Jha/Eric Quigley (KY) def. Andrew Adams/Nick Jones (SC) 9-7
