O’Keefe Shines in Gamecocks’ 4-3 loss at No. 32 Ole Miss

Twitter // Facebook

Pos.	*Singles (2, 1, 5, 3, 6, 4)**	Score
1.	#51 Gustav Hansson (UM) d. #66 Gabriel Friedrich (SC)	6-2, 6-1
2.	#66 Stefan Lindmark (UM) d. Andrew Schafer (SC)	6-3, 6-2
3.	Harrison O’Keefe (SC) d. Filip Kraljevic (UM)	6-4, 6-4
4.	Alex Fennell (SC) d. Grey Hamilton (UM)	6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (2)
5.	Fabian Fallert (UM) d. Thomas Mayronne (SC)	6-3, 6-1
6.	Zvonimir Babic (UM) d. Wood Benton (SC)	6-4, 6-3

Pos.	*Doubles (3, 1)**	Score
1.	Friedrich/O’Keefe (SC) d. #24 Kraljevic/Babic (UM)	7-5
2.	Fennell/Swank (SC) vs. Fallert/Hamilton (UM)	susp.
3.	Dennis/Schafer (SC) d. Hansson/Lindmark (UM)	6-3

OXFORD, Miss. — South Carolina men’s tennis fell on the road to No. 32 Ole Miss Friday, 4-3, at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center. The Gamecocks powered to a 1-0 lead after sweeping doubles, but the Rebels pulled out four hard-fought singles matches to take the win. Redshirt sophomore Harrison O’Keefe led the Gamecocks in the loss, winning in both singles and doubles and becoming the first Gamecock since 2002 to win 30 singles matches in an academic year.

In doubles play, junior Andrew Schafer and freshman Yancy Dennis gave the Gamecocks an early edge with a 6-3 win at No. 3. Redshirt sophomore Gabriel Friedrich and O’Keefe took it from there as they captured a dramatic 7-5 victory at No. 1 over the nation’s No. 24-ranked duo of Filip Kraljevic and Zvonimir Babic to give Carolina the 1-0 lead.

The Gamecocks were unable to keep the momentum moving in singles as Ole Miss took the first set on four of six courts. No. 51 Gustav Hansson picked up a hard-fought win at No. 1 singles, with No. 66 Stefan Lindmark right behind at No. 2, giving the Rebels a 2-1 lead. Rebel Fabian Fallert then made it 3-1 with a victory at No. 5.

O’Keefe, however, kept the Gamecocks alive with a strong 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 3 singles. With the win, the Salem, Va., native notched his 30 singles win of 2015-16 and improved to 7-4 in the SEC this spring. The Rebels would go on to clinch the match with a win at No. 6 singles, but junior Alex Fennell kept fighting. The left-hander stormed back in his third set to take a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (2) victory, making it a 4-3 final.

With the loss, Carolina falls to 12-14, 3-8 in the SEC. The Rebels improve to 14-8, 5-6 in conference play.

Match Changer

After South Carolina won the doubles point, the Rebels responded by taking the first set in singles on four courts.

Notables

The loss is South Carolina’s fifth 4-3 loss of the season. The Gamecocks are 1-5 in matches decided by one point.
Redshirt sophomore Harrison O’Keefe became the first Gamecock since Marcus Westman in 2002 to win 30 singles matches in one season.
O’Keefe has compiled a 30-12 record so far in 2015-16, a 17-8 mark in dual-match play, and a 7-4 mark in the SEC, all of which lead the team.
The doubles team of O’Keefe and redshirt sophomore Gabriel Friedrich has won three straight matches.
Carolina’s win at No. 1 doubles marked its first win over a ranked doubles tandem in SEC play this spring.

Up Next

South Carolina gets set for its final match of the regular season as it travels to No. 12 Arkansas for a Sunday contest at 2 p.m. Following the regular season, the Gamecocks will host the 2016 SEC Men’s Tennis Tournament April 20-24 at the Carolina Tennis Center in Columbia, S.C.