Gamecocks Take Out No. 45 Tulsa

TULSA, Okla.- South Carolina men’s tennis (10-2) battled to a tightly contested 5-2 win over No. 45 Tulsa (9-8) on Sunday afternoon inside the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.  The Gamecocks, which split its two road matches over the weekend, earn their second ranked-win of the season while improving to 2-1 in road matches.

South Carolina, which is a perfect 9-0 when winning the doubles point, concludes its non-conference schedule at 10-1 in matches outside of the SEC following Sunday’s win.

The Gamecocks made quick work in the doubles session as a 6-2 win at No. 3 was quickly followed by a 6-3 decision from the No. 2 pair to give Carolina its ninth doubles point of the season.  Fourth-ranked Paul Jubb earned his first match-clinching win of the season after his seventh-consecutive singles win at the No. 1 spot gave the Gamecocks a 4-2 advantage over the Golden Hurricane.

DOUBLES:
While the Gamecocks saw a second-consecutive match moved indoors with wintry conditions in the Northeast Oklahoma region on Sunday, Carolina came out red hot in its first dual match against Tulsa since 1993.  The Gamecocks jumped out to 3-1, 3-1 and 4-1 leads on the three doubles courts, respectively.

Daniel Rodrigues and Beau Pelletier closed out their dominant 6-2 win over Tulsa’s Kody Pearson and Daniel Siddall.  With the Gamecocks closing in on wins at both No. 1 and No. 2 doubles, Joseph Brailovksy and Jake Beasley finished off their 6-3 win to put a cap on the doubles point.

Doubles Results:
1. Jarod Hing/Boriss Kamdem (Tulsa) vs. Paul Jubb/Raphael Lambling (SC) 2-5, unfinished
2. Joseph Brailovsky/Jake Beasley (SC) def. Joshua Goodger/Tom Thelwall-Jones (Tulsa) 6-3
3. Daniel Rodrigues/Beau Pelletier (SC) def. Kody Pearson/Daniel Siddall (Tulsa) 6-2
Order of finish: 3,2

SINGLES:
The singles session opened with tight first set matches from top to bottom, as the two teams split the six opening sets.  Daniel Rodrigues was the first Gamecock to finish off his singles match, winning 6-3, 6-3 for his team leading 23rd singles win on the season.

Beau Pelletier’s 6-4, 6-3 win on court six, which came just moments after Rodrigues’s straight-set victory, gave the Gamecocks a 3-1 advantage in the match with Jubb ahead 5-3 on court one.

Jubb avoided his second set slipping away, with a break and a hold to finish off No. 84 Majed Kilani 7-5 in the second.  Jubb has now won seven-consecutive matches, each in straight sets to begin dual-match play.

Singles Results:
1. No. 4 Paul Jubb (SC) def. No. 84 Majed Kilani (Tulsa) 7-6 (2), 7-5
2. No. 76 Daniel Rodrigues (SC) def. Joshua Goodger (Tulsa) 6-3, 6-3
3. Jarod Hing (Tulsa) def. No. 95 Raphael Lambling (SC) 7-6 (3), 7-5
4. Kody Pearson (Tulsa) def. Patricck Cacciatore (SC) 6-4, 6-1
5. Joseph Brailovsky (SC) def. Stefan Hampe (Tulsa) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
6. Beau Pelletier (SC) def. Tom Thelwall-Jones (Tulsa) 6-4, 6-3
Order of finish: 4,2,6,3,1,5

UP NEXT:
South Carolina will prepare for its home conference opener next week as it gets set to host Mississippi State on Friday night beginning at 5 p.m., followed by a match against Ole Miss on Sunday at 1 p.m., at the Carolina Tennis Center.

For men’s tennis updates, continue to check back with GamecocksOnline.com or follow the team on social media (@GamecockMTennis).