March 8, 2015
COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 40 South Carolina (10-8, 1-3 SEC) split Sunday’s doubleheader at the Carolina Tennis Center, dropping the opener 4-2 against No. 10 Texas A&M (7-2, 3-1 SEC) before downing Coastal Carolina (5-4) by a score of 4-0.
Senior duo Kyle Koch / Thiago Pinheiro made quick work of their Aggie counterparts, winning the first match of doubles play 6-2. The Gamecocks, however, were not able to claim the doubles point as Thomas Mayronne / Harrison O’Keefe’s comeback fell just short. Down 1-5, the nation’s No. 44 pairing came roaring back, but couldn’t close the deal, losing 4-6 as Texas A&M claimed the afternoon’s first point.
South Carolina came out firing on all cylinders in singles as well. Andrew Adams, playing out of the No. 1 position against No. 65 Shane Vinsant, had his most dominant singles performance of the season, winning 6-3, 6-0 tying the overall match at one. No. 101 Andrew Schafer, playing the No. 4 slot for the Gamecocks, quickly put South Carolina on top with an efficient 6-0, 6-4 win over A&M’s Jordi Arconada. The Aggies would respond however, winning three consecutive singles matches to clinch the overall victory. Thiago Pinheiro, the Gamecocks’ No. 3, dominated in his first set, winning 6-1, but dropped the second to send the match to a decisive third set. Pinheiro went back and forth with A&M’s Arthur Rinderknech, holding serve until the two went to a tiebreak that the Aggie freshman took 7-6(2).
“They have proven that they are a top contender,” head coach Josh Goffi said of the Aggies. “It’s just another inch closer for us to get where we need to be, for us to be a contender. We were in position to take that match five or six times but the fact is that great teams don’t give it to you, you have to go out and finish it and that’s the hardest part, putting away those tough teams. We got better today from that match.”
The Gamecocks responded in their second match of the day with a dominant performance over Coastal Carolina, not dropping a single set to the Chanticleers. Gamecocks’ lead pairings of Koch/Pinheiro and Mayronne/O’Keefe each took their matches 6-3, giving South Carolina an early 1-0 lead.
South Carolina shined in singles play against Coastal Carolina. Kyle Koch topped Chanticleer senior Garik Yedigarian 6-1, 6-3 just before Sam Swank wrapped up his own straight-set victory, beating Renan Samed 6-2, 6-4.
With the Gamecocks leading 3-0, Andrew Adams finished the job, notching his second singles victory of the day, this time 6-2, 6-4 to clinch the match for the Gamecocks. Adams now sits at 10-15 overall on the season. Sunday’s singles victories marked his first of the season playing out of the No. 1 position. Goffi recognizes the importance of Adams’ resurgence as the team enters the heart of their SEC schedule.
“He was starting to make moves in the right direction,” Goffi said. “Today he got a little bit of payoff. It couldn’t have been sweeter. It’s important for the team to see that Andrew Adams is back.”
South Carolina’s next match is on Thurs., March 12, when it hosts Kentucky at the Carolina Tennis Center at 3 p.m.
#10 Texas A&M 4, #40 South Carolina 2
Doubles (Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2*)
1. Kyle Koch/Thiago Pinheiro (SC) def. (8) Harrison Adams/Shane Vinsant (TAMU) 6-2
2. Jeremy Efferding/Jordan Szabo (TAMU) def. (44) Thomas Mayronne/Harrison O’Keefe (SC) 6-4
3. AJ Catanzariti/Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) def. Andrew Adams/Andrew Schafer (SC) 6-3
Singles (Order of Finish: 1, 4, 5, 3, 2*)
1. Andrew Adams (SC) def. (65) Shane Vinsant (TAMU) 6-3, 6-0
2. (66) Jeremy Efferding (TAMU) def. Kyle Koch (SC) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
3. Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) def. Thiago Pinheiro (SC) 6-1, 1-6, 7-6(2)
4. (101) Andrew Schafer (SC) def. Jordi Arconada (TAMU) 6-0, 6-4
5. (88) AJ Catanzariti (TAMU) def. Harrison O’Keefe (SC) 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-0
6. Max Lunkin (TAMU) led Thomas Mayronne (SC) 2-6, 7-5, 4-1 (susp.)
#40 South Carolina 4, Coastal Carolina 0
Doubles (Order of Finish: 1, 2*)
1. Kyle Koch/Thiago Pinheiro (SC) def. Kaue Pereira/Philippe Tsangarides (CCU) 6-3
2. (44) Thomas Mayronne/Harrison O’Keefe (SC) def. Renan Samed/Garik Yedigarian (CCU) 6-3
3. Andrew Adams/Andrew Schafer (SC) led Pedro Leme/Vuk Velickovic (CCU) 5-4 (susp.)
Singles (Order of Finish: 2, 6, 1*) 1. Andrew Adams (SC) def. Philippe Tsangarides (CCU) 6-2, 6-4
2. Kyle Koch (SC) def. Garik Yedigarian (CCU) 6-1, 6-3
3. Thiago Pinheiro (SC) led Kaue Pereira (CCU) 7-6(3), 2-4 (susp.)
4. (101) Andrew Schafer (SC) led Vuk Velickovic (CCU) 6-3, 4-4 (susp.)
5. Thomas Mayronne (SC) led Pedro Leme (CCU) 6-4, 3-4 (susp.)
6. Sam Swank (SC) def. Renan Samed (CCU) 6-2, 6-4
— www.GamecocksOnline.com —
