Oct. 16, 2015
CARY, N.C. – Seven of eight Gamecocks advanced past the first round, and five Gamecocks reached the Round of 32 on Day One of the USTA/ITA Carolina Regional at Cary Tennis Park.
The No. 8 seed Gabriel Friedrich, No. 14-seed Andrew Schafer and No. 15-seed Alex Fennell led the way for Carolina, earning a pair of wins each to reach the Round of 32. Sophomore Harrison O’Keefe claimed, perhaps, the biggest win of the day taking down the No. 7 seed Vincent Lin of Duke, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, before cruising to a win in the second round. Sophomore Thomas Mayronne also advanced with wins over opponents from UNC Greensboro and Gardner-Webb. The quintet will compete Saturday with a chance to advance to the Round of 16.
“The team played solid and competed well for the first day of the tournament,” head coach Josh Goffi said. “We’ll need to be a little sharper early on in games as the competition gets tougher, but I’m pleased with where we are after Day One. We will be challenged tomorrow and I’m excited to see who responds.”
Junior Sam Swank took out Ollie Casey of Appalachian State in the first round, 6-4, 6-4, to improve his record to 7-2 this season. He would later fall in the second round to the No. 1 seed, Brett Clark of North Carolina. Freshman Yancy Dennis picked up a win over Furman’s Ben Horst before dropping his second round match against Jonathan Ho of Wake Forest. Freshman Wood Benton defeated Davidson’s Jordan Hart in the consolation draw.
The doubles draw was announced Friday with tandem of Friedrich and O’Keefe drawing the four-seed. Three of the four Gamecock doubles teams will be playing together for the first time. Friedrich and O’Keefe are set to take on Shoti Meparidze and Simon Norenius of North Carolina State. O’Keefe went 19-11 in doubles last season while Friedrich is 2-1 so far this fall.
Dennis and Swank, the lone team with match experience together, are 2-1 this fall and finished as runner-up at the South Carolina Collegiate Championships. They will take on freshman Adrian Chamdani and junior TJ Pura of Duke. Benton and Schafer will go up against Campbell’s Jon Oneal and Lorenz Schwab while Fennell and Mayronne square off with Alex Croker and Brett Landau of UNC Ashville.
Play continues at the Cary Tennis Park Saturday with the singles Round of 32 and the first two rounds of the doubles bracket. For tournament updates, visit www.GoDuke.com or follow the team on Twitter (@GamecocksMTennis).
FRIDAY RESULTS
1st Rd (8) Gabriel Friedrich (SC) d. Ramon Simonetti (UPST), 6-2, 6-2
1st Rd (14) Andrew Schafer (SC) d. Tremayne Mitchell (Winthrop), 7-6 (4), 2-6, 7-6 (6)
1st Rd (15) Alex Fennell (SC) d. Zach Bost (App. St.), 6-2, 6-2
1st Rd Harrison O’Keefe (SC) d. (7) Vincent Lin (Duke), 3-6, 6-3, 6-1
1st Rd Sam Swank (SC) d. Ollie Casey (App. St.), 6-4, 6-4
1st Rd Thomas Mayronne (SC) d. Connor Thompson (UNCG), 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
1st Rd Yancy Dennis (SC) d. Ben Horst (Furman), 6-2, 1-6, 6-1
1st Rd Maximillian Scholl (GWebb) d. Wood Benton (SC), 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-1
R64 (8) Gabriel Friedrich (SC) d. Kert Kilumets (NCCU), 6-2, 6-0
R64 (14) Andrew Schafer (SC) d. Javier Restrepo (UNCW), 6-3, 6-4
R64 (15) Alex Fennell (SC) d. Anu Kodali (UNC), 6-1, 6-2
R64 Harrison O’Keefe (SC) d. Taylor Cramer (UNCW), 6-0, 6-2
R64 (1) Brett Clark (UNC) d. Sam Swank (SC), 6-1, 6-3
R64 Thomas Mayronne (SC) d. Yaroslav Prostakov (GWebb), 6-3, 6-3
R64 (3) Jonathan Ho (WF) d. Yancy Dennis (SC), 6-3, 6-2
C64 Wood Benton (SC) d. Jordan Hart (Dav.), 6-3, 6-2
SATURDAY SCHEDULE
SINGLES DRAW
R32 (8) Gabriel Friedrich (SC) vs. Haris Poric (Woff.)
R32 (14) Andrew Schafer (SC) vs. Robert Dudley (Clem.)
R32 (15) Alex Fennell (SC) vs. Zack Lewis (CofC)
R32 Thomas Mayronne (SC) vs. Simon Norenius (NCSU)
R32 Harrison O’Keefe (SC) vs. Danny Mack (UNCG)
C32 Wood Benton (SC) vs. Francesco Migilano (CC)
DOUBLES DRAW
R64 (4) Friedrich/O’Keefe (SC) vs. Meparidze/Norenius (NCSU)
R64 Benton/Schafer (SC) vs. Oneal/Schwab (Campbell)
R64 Dennis/Swank (SC) vs. Chamdani/Pura (Duke)
R64 Fennell/Mayronne (SC) vs. Croker/Landau (UNCA)
MATCH SCHEDULE
Saturday, Oct. 17 | 9:00 AM
Singles Round of 32, Doubles Round of 64, Doubles Round of 32, Doubles Consolation Round of 32
Sunday, Oct. 18 | 9:00 AM
Singles Round of 16, Singles Quarterfinals, Doubles Round of 16
Monday, Oct. 19 | 10:00 AM
Singles Semifinals, Doubles Quarterfinals, Doubles Semifinals
Tuesday, Oct. 20 | 10:00 AM
Singles Finals, Doubles Finals
