Sept. 19, 2014

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – South Carolina men’s tennis saw its three veterans thrive in singles and a tandem of freshmen help carry the doubles banner in the first day of action in the SEC Fall Classic at Florida’s Scott Linder Stadium at Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex. Seniors Andrew Adams and Kyle Koch won their single and doubles matches on Friday, while sophomore Andrew Schafer picked up his first singles win of the season. The Gamecocks’ freshman doubles team of Thomas Mayronne and Harrison O’Keefe upset a ranked opponent for their first collegiate victory.

Doubles action kicked off the event Friday morning, and Adams and Koch wasted little time picking up an 8-2 win over Arkansas’ Jovan Parlic and Santiago Munoz. Mayronne and O’Keefe dove into their first collegiate competition facing No. 37 Jordan Szabo and Jeremy Efferding of Texas A&M. The Gamecock freshmen battled down the pair seniors to a tiebreak, which they won handily for the 8-7 (4) victory.

In singles action, Koch got the Gamecocks off on the right foot, picking up right where he left of last season with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Florida’s Jordan Belga to stretch his win streak to 13. Adams put his No. 25 rank on the line against Arkansas’ William Albanese, sending the Razorback transfer to the consolation bracket with a 6-4 6-3 victory. Swank held off Tennessee’s Sunay Bhat in qualifying action by closing out a second-set tiebreak late for a 6-2, 7-6 (5) win. Schafer shook off a slow start against LSU’s Harrison Kennedy to claim victory in three sets (4-6, 6-1, 6-2) and advance to Saturday’s second round. Mayronne and O’Keefe fought hard in their singles matches, losing by tight margins.

Second-round doubles play closed out Friday’s schedule with both the Gamecocks’ remaining teams charging into the quarterfinals. Adams/Koch held off Tennessee’s Igor Smelyanski and Andrew Domsky 8-5. Mayronne and O’Keefe survived another tiebreak, upending Mississippi State’s team of Tassilo Schmid and Julian Cash 8-7

Play continues on Saturday at 9 a.m. with two rounds of singles and the doubles quarterfinals. Swank, Mayronne and O’Keefe will continue to play singles in the consolation bracket.

South Carolina Results

Singles
Qualifying
Sam Swank (SC) def. Sunay Bhat (TN) 6-2, 7-6 (5)

First Round
(25) Andrew Adams (SC) def. William Albanese (ARK) 6-4, 6-3
Kyle Koch (SC) def. Jordan Belga (FL) 6-4, 6-1
Andrew Schafer (SC) def. Harrison Kennedy (LSU) 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
Florian Lakat (MSU) def. Thomas Mayronne (SC) 6-4, 7-6 (8)
Boris Arias (LSU) def. Harrison O’Keefe (SC) 7-6, 2-6, 6-1
(9) A.J. Austin (VU) def. Swank (SC) 6-0. 6-1

Doubles
First Round
Adams/Koch (SC) def. Jovan Parlic/Santiago Munoz (ARK) 8-2
Mayronne/O’Keefe (SC) def. (37) Jordan Szabo/Jeremy Efferding (TAM) 8-7 (4)
(39) Elliott Orkin/Maxx Lipman (FL) def. Swank/Schafer (SC) 8-6

Second Round
Adams/Koch (SC) def. Igor Smelyanski/Andrew Dromsky (TN) 8-5
Mayronne/O’Keefe (SC) def. Tassilo Schmid/Julian Cash (MSU) 8-7