Men's Tennis . March 9, 2018

Gamecocks pick up second straight SEC win

March 9, 2018

AUBURN, Ala. –

No. 28 South Carolina 5, Auburn 2

AUBURN, Ala. — No. 28 South Carolina (11-3, 2-1 SEC) men’s tennis picked up its second SEC win of the season, opening a four-match road stretch with a 5-2 victory at Auburn (9-7, 0-2 SEC) on Friday night at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. Gamecock senior Gabriel Friedrich, ranked 29th in the nation, collected his sixth-straight singles victory to remain perfect in singles so far in SEC play.

The Gamecocks responded quickly after dropping just their second doubles point in eight dual matches by earning the first three singles matches to finish.

With the Gamecocks leading 3-2, Wood Benton recovered from dropping his second set to win 6-0, 2-6, 6-1. The win was Benton’s second consecutive match-clinching singles win from the No. 6 contest.

DOUBLES

The Gamecocks dropped the doubles point after Auburn’s No. 2 pair earned a 6-1 victory followed by a 6-3 Tiger victory in the No. 3 pair to clinch the opening point of the match.

Gabriel Friedrich and Yancy Dennis were on pace to capture their seventh doubles win of the season with a 4-3 lead when their matchup was abandoned.

DOUBLES (2,3)

1. Gabriel Friedrich/Yancy Dennis (SC) vs. Edward Nguyen/ Matteo De Vincentis (AU) 4-3, unfinished

2. Olle Thestrup/ Tad Maclean (AU) def. Paul Jubb/Thomas Mayronne (SC) 6-1

3. Carles Sarrio/ Diego Chavarria (AU) def. Harrison O’Keefe/Wood Benton (SC) 6-3*

SINGLES

Jubb dominated his singles match against No. 104 Matteo De Vincentis of Auburn, winning 6-0, 6-2 to even the match score at 1-1.

Harrison O’Keefe gave the Gamecocks their first lead of the match, taking care of his No. 5 match shortly after Jubb’s victory, posting a 6-2, 6-2 score for his first SEC singles win of the season.

After battling to a tight 6-4 win in the opening set, Thomas Mayronne also broke a brief dry spell from the win column with a 6-2 win in the second set to give the Gamecocks their third point of the match.

The Tigers came back with a win in the No. 3 singles match, but for a second-straight match, Benton sealed the victory for South Carolina from the No. 6 position with his 6-0, 2-6, 6-1 win.

Friedrich capped off the night for South Carolina with his 20th singles win of the season in a hard-fought 7-6, 7-5 victory at the No. 1 position.

SINGLES (2,5,4,3,6, 1)

1. No. 29 Gabriel Friedrich (SC) def Edward Nguyen (AU) 7-6, 7-5

2. Paul Jubb (SC) def. No. 104 Matteo De Vincentis (AU) 6-0, 6-2

3. Olle Thestrup (AU) def. Yancy Dennis (SC) 3-6, 6-0, 6-1

4. Thomas Mayronne (SC) def. Carles Sarrio (AU) 6-4, 6-2

5. Harrison O’Keefe (SC) def. Tad Maclean (AU) 6-2, 6-2

6. Wood Benton (SC) def. Lorenzo Rodriguez (AU) 6-0, 2-6, 6-1*

QUOTABLE

“It was a great road win for the boys. Every win on the road in the SEC is hard earned and tonight wasn’t an exception. Auburn played a great doubles point tonight but our guys answered by winning six opening sets in singles which set the tone for the rest of the match. We are moving ahead and looking forward to a great match against a very good Mississippi State team on Sunday.”-Head Men’s Tennis Coach Josh Goffi

GAMECOCK NOTABLES

No. 28 South Carolina improves to 12-3 overall on the season and has now won five of its last six matches.
No. 29 Gabriel Friedrich improved to 3-0 in SEC play and 20-5 overall with his sixth-straight singles victory. Friedrich is now 11-1 on the season during dual matches from the Gamecocks’ No. 1 singles position.
The Gamecocks’ win moves them to 9-2 on the season in road/ neutral site matches.
Paul Jubb has now won eight of his last nine singles matches, including two straight matchups against ranked opponents. Jubb now has three ranked wins on the season.
Harrison O’Keefe snapped a streak of three straight singles matches without a singles win and improved his overall record to 6-6 on the season.
Senior Thomas Mayronne also broke a short three-match winless streak with his victory in the No. 4 position, which improved his overall record to 19-7 on the season.
Wood Benton had the match-clinching win for the Gamecocks for a second-straight match and has now won five of six singles matches.