Feb. 4, 2012
ATLANTA – South Carolina sophomore Chip Cox turned the tide of the match and helped power No. 69 South Carolina to a 5-2 win over No. 22 Georgia Tech at Bill Moore Tennis Center Saturday afternoon. The Gamecocks (6-0) won the swept the three doubles matches but trailed in the first sets of four singles before Cox pushed back to win his first set, spurring his teammates to victory as well.
“It was a good win today,” South Carolina head coach Josh Goffi said. “To beat the No. 22-ranked team, especially with such a young team, is a big accomplishment for us. I’m especially proud of our freshmen. We had all three come through in our 5-2 victory, so the freshmen are playing well. That’s important to see for the rest of the season.”
South Carolina’s doubles continued their strong play with Ivan Machado and Thiago Pinheiro getting things off to a good start with an 8-4 win in the No. 2 match, topping Kevin King and Vikram Hundal. The Gamecocks’ No. 1 tandem of Nick Jones and Kyle Koch rode their power game to an 8-6 win over Juan Spir and Juan Melian. With the point decided, the No. 3 match went to a tiebreaker, which Cox and Andrew Adams closed out 7-6 (3) over Eduardo Segura and Sebastian Edwards.
Georgia Tech looked to reclaim momentum in singles, jumping out to a quick lead by winning the first sets of four of the six matches on court. South Carolina led only in the No. 3 match, in which Adams was handling Melian 6-2. In the No. 4 match, Cox trailed Hundal 5-1 in the first.
Cox was the first to make his move, winning the next six games to claim the first set 7-5. While the Yellow Jackets had taken a 2-1 lead with wins in the Nos. 1 and 2 matches, the Gamecocks were building on Cox’s rally. The Myrtle Beach, S.C., native closed out his match with a 6-1 second set, finishing his comeback by winning 12 of 13 games to knot the team score at 2-2.
Buoyed by the emotion, Carl Eguez was pushing his way back from a 2-6 first set loss to Edwards, winning the second set 6-1. With his match evened up at a set a piece, the freshman kept his foot on the gas in the third with a perfect 6-0 set to put the Gamecocks up 3-2.
Adams clinched the victory for the Gamecocks with his 6-0 second set victory over Melian, leaving only Koch on court to determine the final score. The freshman dropped his first set 7-5 but won the second by the same score after battling for a late service break. In the super tiebreaker, the big-serving Koch picked up the 10-6 victory.
South Carolina continues its three-match road swing against Atlantic Coast Conference schools with a Thu., Feb. 9, matchup at No. 39 Wake Forest.
No. 69 South Carolina 5, No. 22 Georgia Tech 2
Doubles (Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3)
1. Nick Jones / Kyle Koch (SC) def. Juan Spir / Juan Melian 8-6
2. Ivan Machado / Thiago Pinheiro (SC) def, Kevin King / Vikram Hundal 8-4
3. Chip Cox / Andrew Adams (SC) def. Eduardo Segura / Sebastian Edwards 7-6 (3)
Singles (Order of Finish: 1, 2, 4, 6, 3, 5)
1. (9) Kevin King def. Nick Jones (SC) 6-4, 6-1
2. Juan Spir def, Ivan Machado (SC) 7-5, 6-2
3. Andrew Adams (SC) def. Juan Melian 6-2, 6-0
4. Chip Cox (SC) def. Vikram Hundal 7-5, 6-1
5. Kyle Koch (SC) def. Eduardo Segura 5-7, 7-5, 1-0 (6)
6. Carl Eguez (SC) def. Sebastian Edwards 2-6, 6-1, 6-0
