Jan. 21, 2012

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina men’s tennis (2-0) defeated both Appalachian State and Wofford by matching scores of 7-0 at the USC Indoor Facility in the first two matches of the Gamecocks’ 2012 campaign. All five freshman Gamecocks made their singles dual-match debuts, and all of them picked up their first two wins. The Gamecocks only dropped one match on the day as a whole and took every available point in the two matches.

“Today was a great start to our season,” said head coach Josh Goffi. “We got a lot of guys in there, and it’s a starting point. The guys came out and treated this match very professionally, meaning that they showed the same enthusiasm, the same team glue and the same energy that we are going to need to compete against the best competition in the country. That was our goal and we accomplished it today. I am extremely proud of the guys. I couldn’t have asked for anything more for them.”

The Gamecocks opened the Appalachian State match with a hard-fought doubles point. In the No. 3 match, Chip Cox and Andrew Adams were on serve with ASU’s Andrew McKinnon and Steve Karendal through seven games before the Gamecock duo won the next four to pick up an 8-3 victory. On Court 1, Nick Jones and Kyle Koch were up a break early at 3-2 and carried that advantage behind strong serving from Jones through 6-5. The Mountaineers broke through to knot the match at 6-6. The Gamecocks young duo was steady down the stretch, collecting another break to go up 8-7 and held on for the 9-7 win to clinch the doubles point.

Senior Ivan Machado kept the momentum going for South Carolina by defeating Alain Humblet in the No. 2 spot in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3. Jones followed shortly after by taking care of the Mountaineers’ top player, Alex Markov, in the No. 1 match by a score of 6-4, 6-3. The sophomore held his serve for the entire match and put the Gamecocks one point away from the victory. In the No. 4 spot, Cox clinched the victory for South Carolina by defeating Sebastien King, 6-3, 6-2. Cox came back from being broken early in the first set to win the last three games. The second set was dominated by the Myrtle Beach, S.C., native, breaking King on his first two serves to close out the match and clinch the win for the Gamecocks. South Carolina kept its foot on the gas with the match in hand as freshman Carl Eguez made his collegiate debut in the No. 6 spot with an impressive 6-0, 6-1 victory over Matt Saltsgaver. Eguez was perfect on serve and put together an impressive 11-game win streak in the victory. Fellow freshmen Adams and Koch also picked up their first wins at South Carolina by defeating their opponents 7-5, 7-6 (5) and 6-3, 6-4, respectively.

In the second match of the day, the Gamecocks took on the Wofford Terriers. South Carolina came out firing on all cylinders to take the early lead with the doubles point. At the No. 2 spot, Adams and Cox raced out to an early 6-1 lead before Wofford’s Walker Hefferon and Jackson Keith held serve and broke to make the score 6-3. The Gamecock duo responded by slamming the door on the match and taking the final two games to win the match 8-3. The No. 3 spot duo of junior Henry Walker and Koch would clinch the doubles point for the Garnet and Black by taking its contest 8-4. The Gamecocks swept the doubles matches thanks to a hard fought victory by Machado and Thiago Pinheiro in the No. 1 spot. The Brazilian pair defeated Wofford’s Tinus Van Wyk and Rob Galloway by a score of 8-6 to keep the momentum going into singles play.

Singles play brought more Gamecock fortune as Carolina went up 2-0 off another impressive performance by Eguez in the No. 4 spot. Eguez was perfect in serve for the second time on the day and gave Wofford’s Tom Wood little room to advance. The freshman finished off Wood by a score of 6-1, 6-1. Koch added the Gamecocks’ third point with an equally stellar performance in his 6-1, 6-1 defeat of Rob Galloway in the No. 3 spot. Adams clinched the match for South Carolina with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Keith in the No. 2 spot to give him his second victory of the day. The veteran Machado showed poise in his match as he worked hard for a 6-3 first set win that featured seven service breaks. In the second set, Machado rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to take the set 6-4 from Wofford’s ace Van Wyk. Pinheiro made his singles dual-match debut in the No. 5 spot against Wofford’s Joey Francis. The freshman dominated from start to finish and took the match by a perfect score of 6-0, 6-0. Ben Barnette also made his spring singles debut with a swift 6-1, 6-1 defeat of James Daly.

The Gamecocks are now 2-0 on the season, and the team is back in action on Fri., Jan. 27, at 10 a.m. against Elon.

South Carolina 7, Appalachian State 0

Doubles
Nick Jones / Kyle Koch (SC) def. Philip Kloc/Alain Humblet (ASU) 9-7
Alex Markov / Sebastien King (ASU) def. Ivan Machado/Thiago Pinheiro (SC) 9-7
Chip Cox / Andrew Adams (SC) def. Andrew McKinnon/Steve Karendal (ASU) 8-3

Singles
Nick Jones (SC) def. Alex Markov (ASU) 6-4, 6-3
Ivan Machado (SC) def. Alain Humblet (ASU) 6-2, 6-3
Andrew Adams (SC) def. Philip Kloc (ASU) 7-5, 7-6(7-5)
Chip Cox (SC) def. Sebastien King (ASU) 6-3, 6-2
Kyle Koch (SC) def. Steve Karendal (ASU) 6-3, 6-4
Carl Eguez (SC) def. Matt Saltsgaver (ASU) 6-0, 6-1

South Carolina 7, Wofford 0

Doubles
Ivan Machado / Thiago Pinheiro (SC) def. Tinus Van Wyk/Rob Galloway (WC) 8-6
Chip Cox / Andrew Adams (SC) def. Walker Hefferon/Jackson Keith (WC) 8-3
Kyle Koch / Henry Walker (SC) def. Jack Seiffart/Tom Wood (WC) 8-4

Singles
Ivan Machado (SC) def. Tinus Van Wyk (WC) 6-3, 6-4
Andrew Adams (SC) def. Jackson Keith (WC) 6-2, 6-0
Kyle Koch (SC) def. Rob Galloway (WC) 6-1, 6-1
Carl Eguez (SC) def. Tom Wood (WC) 6-1, 6-1
Thiago Pinheiro (SC) def. Joey Francis (WC) 6-0, 6-0
Ben Barnette (SC) def. James Daly (WC) 6-1, 6-1