Gamecocks Fall to Reigning National Champs 4-3
ORLANDO, Fla. – No. 13 South Carolina men’s tennis saw reigning National Champion Texas eke out the final two third sets to claim a 4-3 victory over the Gamecocks in the NCAA Championships Round of 16 today at the USTA National Campus. South Carolina won the doubles point and the first two singles matches but could not hold off the No. 4 Longhorns in the final games.
“I’m extremely proud of our guys for what they brought today,” South Carolina head coach Josh Goffi said. “We got into a winning position and, as a coach, that’s all you can ask for. We’re young, and these kind of reps are good. Texas had eight 4-3 wins this season, and it showed. They beat us in those tough moments; we didn’t lose to them in them. That’s what we want in our Gamecock brand, and we’re going to learn from this and come back next year, continuing to build our program.”
The Gamecocks got off to a hot start with the No. 1 and 2 doubles teams establishing quick 3-0 leads. At the No. 1 spot, No. 13 Daniel Rodrigues and Connor Thomson rode their two quick breaks to the end and added a third for the 6-2 win over No. 11 Eliot Spizzirri and Siem Woldeab. In the No. 3 contest, Toby Samuel and Jake Beasley saw No. 78 Cleeve Harper and Chih Chi Huang break back to get back to 4-3. The Gamecocks broke right back for a 5-3 advantage then closed out the 6-3 victory.
Samuel and Beasley took that momentum right into singles, and Thomas Brown joined them in winning their first sets in the Nos. 3, 5 and 6 matches, respectively. The Longhorns claimed the other three first sets, and both teams knew they were in for a battle into the evening.
Beasley posted the first singles victory, following up a 6-3 first-set win over Huang with a quick 3-0 lead in the second. After giving back the early break, he struck again to go up 4-2 and kept his foot on the gas with tight wins in the next two games for a 6-2 final decision.
Moments later, No. 67 Samuel closed out his win over No. 73 Woldeab on Court 3. The two were steady through the early games of the first set, on-serve at 4-3 Waldeab when the Gamecock freshman powered through the next three games for the 6-4 victory. Samuel wasted no time in the second, taking a 4-1 lead after scoring a second service break on deuce point. Woldeab got that break back in the next game, but Samuel still had one in his pocket. With Waldeab serving to stay in the match at 5-3, he faced break point, which Samuel delivered with a backhand passing shot up the line to seal his 6-3 victory and make it a 3-0 Gamecock advantage.
The Longhorns claimed the next two matches to finish, just as the remaining two – Nos. 1 and 6 – moved into their third sets. The two matches traded momentum with Rodrigues taking a 3-0 lead on Spizzirri at the top of the lineup while Brown fell behind Evin McDonald 1-5 at the bottom of it. Then, the tide turned on both courts, Brown began mounting what would eventually be a four-game rally, while Spizzirri and Rodrigues traded service breaks with the Longhorn sophomore becoming the first in four games to hold for a 5-3 advantage.
Rodrigues held at 5-4 to stay in the match, and Brown held at deuce to cap his four-game run with a 5-5 tie. Spizzirri would not be denied in his service game, however, allowing Rodrigues a single point before closing out his 6-4 third-set victory.
With the team match tied at 3-3, the decision came down to the No. 6 match and the Gamecock senior. McDonald won his service game and did not let Brown get comfortable in his, powering through to the 7-5 victory that would end the Gamecocks’ season.
Despite the loss, a pair of Gamecocks will continue their season as Rodrigues and Thomson were selected to the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships, which will begin on Sun., May 23.
For all the latest South Carolina men’s tennis information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockMTennis).
(4) Texas def. (13) South Carolina, 4-3
Doubles (order of finish: 1, 2)
1 – (13) Daniel Rodrigues/Connor Thomson (SC) def. (11) Eliot Spizzirri/Siem Woldeab (TX) 6-2
2 – Jake Beasley/Toby Samuel (SC) def. (78) Cleeve Harper/Chih Chi Huang (TX) 6-3
3 – (80) Raphael Lambling/Phillip Jordan (SC) 5-1
Singles (order of finish: 5, 3, 2, 4, 1, 6)
1 – (23) Eliot Spizzirri (TX) def. (2) Daniel Rodrigues (SC) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
2 – (38) Micha Braswell (TX) def. (22) Connor Thomson (SC) 6-3, 6-4
3 – (67) Toby Samuel (SC) def. (73) Siem Woldeab (TX) 6-4, 6-3
4 – (108) Cleeve Harper (TX) def. (54) Raphael Lambling (SC) 6-2, 6-4
5 – Jake Beasley (SC) def. Chih Chi Huang (TX) 6-3, 6-2
6 – Evin McDonald (TX) def. Thomas Brown (SC) 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
