COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina men’s tennis dropped its SEC opener on Friday to Alabama, 5-2, at the Carolina Tennis Center. The Crimson Tide pulled out a close doubles point and went on to claim the victory with four singles wins. Sophomores Harrison O’Keefe and Thomas Mayronne put together impressive singles performances for the Gamecocks in the loss.
South Carolina held a 3-2 lead on two courts in doubles before the Tide was able to rally. Alabama’s Grayson Goldin and Becker O’Shaughnessey earned a 6-4 win over sophomore Gabriel Friedrich and junior Sam Swank at No. 2. Moments later, sophomore Korey Lovett and teammate Mazen Osama clinched the doubles point by defeating the Gamecocks’ No. 51 tandem of sophomore Harrison O’Keefe and Alex Fennell, 6-4, at No. 1.
Playing in front of a spirited crowd on Alumni Weekend, the Gamecocks looked to flip the script in singles. O’Keefe played perhaps the quickest match of any Gamecock this season en route to a dominant 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 4, evening the team score at 1-1. Alabama would pull back in front with a win by sophomore Matt Rossouw at six over Gamecock freshman Wood Benton.
At No. 3 singles, junior Alex Fennell had No. 121 Becker O’Shaughnessey on the ropes in the opening set, leading 5-2 before O’Shaughnessey fought back to take the set and eventually the match, 7-5, 6-2. With the Tide up, 3-1, No. 93 Mazen Osama did just enough to hold off a heroic effort by junior Andrew Schafer, clinching the match for Alabama with a 6-4, 7-5 victory at No. 2.
Moments after the Crimson Tide earned their fourth point, Mayronne put away his opponent, 6-4, 6-4 at five, while Friedrich fell in a hard-fought three-setter to heavy-hitting sophomore Korey Lovett, 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-4.
Quotable
Head Coach Josh Goffi: “Alabama outplayed us in the doubles point today, and credit goes to them. We were completely in control of the singles point initially but got a little loose in a few spots when we were trying to close the set out, and it cost the team the match. Moving forward, we’ll need to toughen up and play more disciplined tennis when we are ahead.”
Match Changer
Trailing 1-0 after doubles, Carolina came out strong in singles with early leads on five courts. Alabama, however, was able to pull ahead at No. 2 and mount a five-game rally at No. 5 to split opening sets, 3-3, on its way to taking four singles matches over the Gamecocks.
Notables
- Today’s loss snaps the Gamecocks’ four-match home winning streak.
- Sophomore Harrison O’Keefe has won five of his last six matches.
- With his singles win today, sophomore Thomas Mayronne moves to 9-1 in dual match play and 22-5 overall.
Up Next
South Carolina returns to the court on Sunday as it takes on No. 50 Mississippi State at the Carolina Tennis Center at 11 a.m.
