Feb. 22, 2013
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – No. 48 South Carolina swept William and Mary 7-0 in men’s tennis action at McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center Friday night. It was the Gamecocks’ (9-3) first road win of the season in their first true road match, winning every match in straight sets. Sophomore Thiago Pinheiro posted the clinching victory in the No. 4 singles match.
“At every spot today, we came out ready to play,” South Carolina head coach Josh Goffi said. “We got out to early leads and played disciplined and controlled tennis. It was exactly what we needed to see going into a tough match Sunday against a highly ranked VCU team.”
The Gamecocks were the early aggressors against the Tribe with the Nos. 1 and 2 doubles teams each winning four of their first five games. The No. 2 tandem of Kyle Koch and Harry Menzies kept the pressure on, cruising to an 8-1 win over John Banks and Scott Huang. The Tribe’s top duo of Aaron Chaffee and Anton Andersson gutted out two games, but Chip Cox and Tsvetan Mihov closed the door with an 8-3 win to deliver the doubles point.
In singles, Mihov and Menzies sprinted out of the gates, establishing quick 4-1 leads in their matches at the top and bottom of the lineup, respectively. The Gamecocks were ahead on the other four courts as well. By the time Menzies closed out his first set over Huang 6-1, Pinheiro and Kyle Koch were up a break in their matches as well. Koch claimed the first set over Banks 6-4 in the No. 5 match just ahead of Pinheiro wrapping up his 6-1 first set over Ben Hoogland. Cox and Andersson were in the tightest battle of the first sets, as Andersson’s late push forced a tiebreak.
Mihov won his first set 6-2 over Chaffee in the No. 1 match and Andrew Adams made it a sweep with his first-set win over Adrian Vodislav in the No. 3 match. When Cox won his first-set tiebreak 7-6 (3), Mihov was already out to a 3-0 lead over Chaffee and Menzies was on the brink of winning his match over Huang.
The No. 6 match wrapped up with Menzies winning the second set 6-2 to give the Gamecocks a 2-0 lead, and minutes later Koch finished out his 6-2 second set to make it 3-0. Mihov and Cox were both up a break on Courts 1 and 2. Pinheiro got a late service break to clinch the team victory with a 6-4 second-set win over Hoogland, and Cox was close on his heels with a 6-1 second set. Adams had surged ahead of Vodislav on Court 3 as well. Mihov’s 6-3 second set finished just ahead of Adams’ by the same score.
The Gamecocks travel to Richmond to take on No. 34 VCU in a 1 p.m. match on Sun., Feb. 24. South Carolina is back at Carolina Tennis Center on Fri., March 1, hosting No. 14 Texas A&M in the first SEC match of the season.
#48 South Carolina 7, William & Mary 0
Doubles (Order of Finish: 2,1)
1. Chip Cox/Tsvetan Mihov (SC) def. Aaron Chaffee/Anton Andersson (WM) 8-3
2. Kyle Koch/Harry Menzies (SC) def. John Banks/Scott Huang (WM) 8-1
3. Ben Barnette/Thiago Pinheiro (SC) tied Ben Hoogland/Adrian Vodislav (WM) 4-4
Singles (Order of Finish: 6, 5, 4*, 2, 1, 3)
1. (94) Tsvetan Mihov (SC) def. Aaron Chaffee (WM) 6-2, 6-3
2. Chip Cox (SC) def. Anton Andersson (WM) 7-6 (3), 6-1
3. Andrew Adams (SC) def. Adrian Vodislav (WM) 6-4, 6-3
4. Thiago Pinheiro (SC) def. Ben Hoogland (WM) 6-1, 6-4
5. Kyle Koch (SC) def. John Banks (WM) 6-4, 6-2
6. Harry Menzies (SC) def. Scott Huang (WM) 6-1, 6-2
