Trio of Gamecocks Earn NCAA Individual Championship Spots
May 5, 2017
COLUMBIA, S.C. ââ’¬” Redshirt junior Gabriel Friedrich (49) and the doubles pairing of Harrison O’Keefe and Yancy Dennis (13) of the No. 20 South Carolina men’s tennis team will begin play in the 2017 NCAA Individual Championships Wednesday, May 24 at the Dan McGill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia. Friedrich, ranked as high as No. 38 this spring and currently No. 49 in the nation, accumulated a 13-8 overall and 5-7 record in the SEC. He ended the season strong with four straight wins in the No. 2 spot including a straight-set victory over the nation’s No. 25 singles player and claimed a spot on the All-SEC Second Team. He boasts a 16-6 record in doubles play with three different partners and one win over a ranked pair. This is Friedrich’s second consecutive NCAA Singles Championship appearance. He advanced to the second round after defeating then No. 30 Florian Lakat of Florida 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(4) but fell to Dominic Cotrone 7-5, 6-3 in the second round. The Gamecock’s top doubles team of O’Keefe and Dennis have put together an impressive spring campaign, reaching their highest ranking of No. 13 in the most recent Oracle/ITA Rankings. The pair has posted a 17-7 dual-play record and an 8-5 record in the SEC. This season the duo claimed five victories over ranked opponents, including two over top-10 opponents. O’Keefe was selected as an alternate in singles play for the tournament. With this year’s selections, South Carolina has placed a singles competitor or doubles team in each of the last six NCAA Individual Championships. The brackets for both championships will be released at a later date. Click here for a complete list of entries in both championships. No. 20 South Carolina begins play in the NCAA Championships on Friday, May 12 at 10 a.m. when the Gamecocks face East Tennessee State University in the first round at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center in Chapel Hill, N.C. For more information on South Carolina men’s tennis, follow the team on Twitter and Instagram at gamecockmtennis, or visit GamecocksOnline.com for updates.
