No. 19 Gamecocks Fall to Mississippi St. in SEC Tournament
April 29, 2017
KNOXVILLE, TN. — No. 19 South Carolina suffered a tough defeat in the third round of the 2017 SEC Tournament in Knoxville, Tenn. in a 4-1 decision to No. 18 Mississippi St. Friday evening. The Gamecocks fell to 20-6 overall, while the Bulldogs improved to 19-7.
The evening’s match started with a close doubles point, sending the match on court three to a tiebreak to decide the point. MSU claimed the first doubles match with Mate Cutura and Vaughn Hunter defeating Alex Fennell and Thomas Mayronne 6-1. But the Gamecocks doubles duo of Harrison O’Keefe and Yancy Dennis (18) upended the No. 9 pair of Niclas Braun and Trevor Foshey 6-1 in the No. 1 spot, leaving it to court three to decide the point. The final match came down to a 7-6(8-6) battle where Mississippi State’s Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic eventually claimed the point giving the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.
Moving into singles play, South Carolina came out firing, taking four of the first sets and forcing five into third sets. Junior Gabriel Friedrich (52) tied it up for the Gamecocks with a 7-6(2), 6-3 win in the No. 2 spot. But Borges (3) gave the Bulldogs the edge, taking a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 triumph and making the score 2-. Rakic (111) contributed his point next, posting a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win on court three with three still playing. Though the remaining Gamecocks battled for every point, Giovanni Oradini would clinch the match for Mississippi St., defeating Fennell 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 to make a 4-1 final score.
For more information on South Carolina men’s tennis, follow the team on Twitter and Instagram at gamecockmtennis or check in at GamecocksOnline.com.
RESULTS
SINGLES (2, 1, 3, 5)
1. #3 Nuno Borges (MSU) def. #67 Harrison O’Keefe (SC) 4-6, 6-4, 6-0
2. #52 Gabriel Friedrich (SC) def. Mate Cutura (MSU) 7-6 (7-2), 6-3
3. #111 Strahinja Rakic (MSU) def. Andrew Schafer (SC) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
4. Yancy Dennis (SC) vs. Niclas Braun (MSU) 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 1-1, unfinished
5. Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. Alex Fennell (SC) 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
6. Paul Jubb (SC) vs. Trevor Foshey (MSU) 6-7 (8-10), 6-1, 3-2, unfinished
DOUBLES (2, 1, 3)
1. #18 Harrison O’Keefe/Yancy Dennis (SC) def. #9 Niclas Braun/Trevor Foshey (MSU) 6-1
2. Mate Cutura/Vaughn Hunter (MSU) def. Alex Fennell/Thomas Mayronne (SC) 6-1
3. Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic (MSU) def. Gabriel Friedrich/Andrew Schafer (SC) 7-6 (8-6)
