Gamecocks down No. 17 Georgia
March 4, 2018
COLUMBIA, S.C. –
No. 29 South Carolina vs. No. 17 Georgia
COLUMBIA, S.C. — No. 29 South Carolina men’s tennis overcame a 3-1 deficit on its way to a thrilling 4-3 win over No. 17 Georgia on Sunday afternoon at the Carolina Tennis Center. The win was the Gamecocks’ first victory over Georgia since 2005.
The Gamecocks led all three doubles matches almost the entire way as Paul Jubb and Thomas Mayronne picked up a 6-2 win over a duet of ITA top-20 singles players in Wayne Montgomery and Walker Duncan.
The Jubb/ Mayronne win was shortly followed up with a 6-3 win for Gabriel Friedrich and Yancy Dennis over the 12th ranked doubles pair in the country in Georgia’s Robert Loeb and Jan Zielinski.
The Bulldogs took the first three decisions in singles but South Carolina came back with a pair of ranked wins from Friedrich and Jubb to even the match at 3-3. Wood Benton then took care of his No. 6 matchup, winning 7-5, 7-5 to give the Gamecocks the 4-3 decision for their first SEC victory of the season.
DOUBLES
After having their doubles match abandoned while leading on Friday night, Paul Jubb and Thomas Mayronne broke serve to go ahead 2-1 early and cruised to a 6-2 win in the doubles No. 2 pair.
Friedrich and Dennis got back to their winning ways in their doubles matchup against Loeb and Zielinski of Georgia. The Gamecocks’ No. 1 doubles pair won three straight games to clinch the doubles point for South Carolina with a 6-3 victory.
Wood Benton and Harrison O’Keefe jumped out to a 5-2 lead in their matchup on court six and led 5-4 when play was suspended. The Gamecocks improved to 24-9 in doubles matches in dual play and have clinched the doubles point in six of their last seven dual matches.
DOUBLES (2,1)
1. Gabriel Friedrich/Yancy Dennis (SC) def. Robert Loeb/Jan Zielinski (UGA) 6-3 *
2. Paul Jubb/Thomas Mayronne (SC) def. Wayne Montgomery/Walker Duncan (UGA) 6-2
3. Harrison O’Keefe/Wood Benton (SC) vs. Alex Diaz/Nathan Ponwith (UGA) 5-4, unfinished
SINGLES
Georgia posted the first three singles wins at the Nos. 5, 4 and 3 positions, before Friedrich picked up his second ranked win of the year with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Wayne Montgomery, the 11th ranked player in the country.
Jubb then followed up with a 7-5, 6-4 win over No. 89 Nathan Ponwith to even the match at 3-3, improving his overall record to 14-6 in the process.
With all eyes on court No. 6, Wood Benton closed out a tight 7-5, 7-5 win to clinch the dual win for South Carolina.
SINGLES (5,4,3,1,2,6)
1. Gabriel Friedrich (SC) def. Wayne Montgomery (UGA) 7-5, 6-3
2. Paul Jubb (SC) def. Nathan Ponwith (UGA) 7-5, 6-4
3. Jan Zielinski (UGA) def. Yancy Dennis (SC) 6-2, 7-6 (7-5)
4. Walker Duncan (UGA) def. Thomas Mayronne (SC) 6-2, 6-2
5. Robert Loeb (UGA) def. Harrison O’Keefe (SC) 6-4, 6-1
6. Wood Benton (SC) def. Alex Phillips (UGA) 7-5, 7-5*
QUOTABLE
“They (Georgia) are perennially one of the best in the country and always at the top of the SEC, so it’s a goal of ours to get them at home and especially responding after Friday night’s loss (vs Tennessee). That’s tough to do but we challenged our guys to come out a little sharper today, to have that cool, calm focus and that’s exactly what they did. “-Josh Goffi.
GAMECOCK NOTABLES
- No. 66 Gabriel Friedrich has now won five straight singles matches, all in straight sets, including three wins over ranked opponents after defeating No. 11 Wayne Montgomery of UGA.
- Sunday’s win over No. 17 Georgia was the first win over ranked opponent for South Carolina this season and snaps a streak of 13 straight losses to the Bulldogs.
- Paul Jubb has now won seven of his last eight singles matches and picks up his second win over a ranked opponent after taking down No. 89 Nathan Ponwith of UGA.
- The No. 48 ranked doubles pair, Gabriel Friedrich and Yancy Dennis defeated the 12th ranked doubles pair in the country in Georgia’s Robert Loeb and Jan Zielinski. The win was the second of the season for Friedrich/Dennis over a ranked doubles opponent.
- Friedrich and Dennis are now 6-2 in doubles this season after beginning the year 5-0.
- The Gamecocks have now secured the doubles point in six of their last seven dual matches.
- South Carolina has now faced five teams that have been ranked in the ITA top-50 rankings during the 2018 season.
- Wood Benton has now won four of five singles matches.
UP NEXT FOR THE GAMECOCKS
The Gamecocks will make their first SEC road trip of the season next week as they take on Auburn on Fri. Mar. 9, at 5:30 p.m., followed by a trip to battle Mississippi State on Sun., Mar. 11 at 2 p.m.
For updates, continue to check back with GamecocksOnline.com or follow the team on social media (@GamecockMTennis).
