Men's Tennis Falls 4-1 at No. 13 Texas A&M
March 1, 2014
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS – No. 33 South Carolina’s Andrew Schafer made quick work of his opponent in singles, but the Gamecocks dropped three first-set tiebreaks en route to a 4-1 loss at No. 13 Texas A&M in the SEC opener for both teams. Originally scheduled for Sunday afternoon, the match at George P. Mitchell Tennis Center was moved to Saturday due to inclement weather the Aggies’ lack of an indoor facility.
With top-40 tandems at the top the bottom of its doubles lineup, Texas A&M claimed the first point of the match with wins from both. The Gamecocks were aggressive early in singles action. Kyle Koch and Andrew Schafer each went up a break in their first sets, while Tsvetan Mihov, Thiago Pinheiro and Chip Cox were on serve in theirs.
Schafer closed out Max Lunkin 6-1 in the first set of the No. 6 match and was midway through his second-set 6-4 win before any other first set was in the books. No. 26 Shane Vinsant posted a 6-3 first set over No. 112 Andrew Adams in the No. 3 match, while Junior Ore got back on serve with Koch on Court 4. That match and the No. 1 match between No. 55 Mihov and No. 11 Harrison Adams went into tiebreaks moments apart. The Aggies surged ahead early in both and held on to give their team a commanding lead.
Schafer leveled the team score at 1-1 shortly after with his win over Lunkin, and Cox got late break to win his first set over Jordan Szabo at 7-5. It was not enough to change the momentum, though, as the Aggies kept the pressure on. Ore topped Koch 6-2 in their second set just ahead of Vinsant posting a 6-3 win over Adams to bring Texas A&M within a point of the team win. Adams clinched with victory with his 6-2 win over Mihov.
South Carolina continues its three-match road stretch on Wed., March 5, at No. 21 Clemson then travels to No. 22 Florida for a showdown on Sun., March 9.
#13 Texas A&M 4, #33 South Carolina 1
Doubles (Order of Finish: 1, 3)
1. (1) Junior Ore/Jackson Withrow (TAMU) def. (34) Chip Cox/Kyle Koch (SC) 8-2
2. Harrison Adams/Shane Vinsant (TAMU) led Tsvetan Mihov/Thiago Pinheiro (SC) 7-6 suspended
3. (37) Jeremy Efferding/Jordan Szabo (TAMU) def. Andrew Adams/Sam Swank (SC) 8-4
Singles (Order of Finish: 6, 4, 2, 1*)
1. (11) Harrison Adams (TAMU) def. (55) Tsvetan Mihov (SC) 7-6 (4), 6-2
2. (26) Shane Vinsant (TAMU) def. (112) Andrew Adams (SC) 6-3, 6-3
3. (38) Jeremy Efferding (TAMU) led Thiago Pinheiro (SC) 7-6 (5), 1-1 suspended
4. Junior Ore (TAMU) def. Kyle Koch (SC) 7-6 (3), 6-2
5. Chip Cox (SC) led Jordan Szabo (TAMU) 7-5, 3-2 suspended
6. Andrew Schafer (SC) def. Max Lunkin (TAMU) 6-1, 6-4
