Hoole Earns First Career Clinch as Gamecocks Defeat Yellow Jackets

Atlanta, Ga. – South Carolina men’s tennis defeated Georgia Tech in a narrow 4-3 decision on Friday. The Gamecocks secured the doubles point from three gritty tiebreak matches and were able to pick up three singles wins from the bottom half of the lineup for the win.

In doubles, No. 30 pair Jake Beasley and James Story got the first win in a close match. The tiebreaker was even throughout but the Gamecocks escaped with the win 7-6 (6). The Yellow Jackets evened the doubles decision with No. 60 Andres Martin and Marcus McDaniel defeating No. 3 Toby Samuel and Connor Thomson. 7-6 (5).

The doubles decision came down to Court 3 where No. 59 Casey Hoole and Raphael Lambling were in a tiebreaker with Brandon McKinney and Rohan Sachdev. In yet another close doubles match, the Gamecock pair was able to come out on top 7-6 (4) to win what turned out to be a critical doubles point.

Play moved to singles where Georgia Tech quickly evened the match at 1-1 with a win on Court 3. The Gamecocks were able to regain the lead with Story winning his match 6-3, 6-3 on Court 4.

Beasley earned the next singles win for South Carolina to increase the lead to 3-1. The graduate took down his opponent in straight-sets, 6-2, 6-3.

Hoole clinched the match for the Gamecocks, earning his first career clinch. The sophomore defeated Georgia Tech’s Elias Shokry in an efficient 6-4, 6-4 decision.

Remaining matches played out with No. 11 Samuel and No. 12 Thomson both falling in three sets. 

The Gamecocks will stay on the road, traveling to Winston-Salem, N.C., to take on No. 9 Wake Forest in their first top-10 matchup of the season. The match will begin at 1 p.m. at the Wake Forest Tennis Center. Live stats will be available here and live video will be available here.

For all the latest South Carolina men’s tennis information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockMTennis).

(8) South Carolina 4, Georgia Tech 3

Doubles (order of finish: 2, 1, 3)

1. #60 Andres Martin/Marcus McDaniel (GT) def. #3 Connor Thomson/Toby Samuel (SC) 7-6 (7-5)
2. #30 Jake Beasley/James Story (SC) def. Keshav Chopra/Elias Shokry (GT) 7-6 (8-6)
3. #59 Casey Hoole/Raphael Lambling (SC) def. Brandon McKinney/Rohan Sachdev (GT) 7-6 (7-4)

Singles (order of finish: 3, 4, 6, 5, 2, 1)

1. #63 Andres Martin (GT) def. #11 Toby Samuel (SC) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
2. Marcus McDaniel (GT) def. #12 Connor Thomson (SC) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
3. #86 Keshav Chopra (GT) def. #67 Raphael Lambling (SC) 6-0, 6-0
4. James Story (SC) def. Rohan Sachdev (GT) 6-3, 6-3
5. Casey Hoole (SC) def. Elias Shokry (GT) 6-4, 6-4
6. Jake Beasley (SC) def. Robert Bauer (GT) 6-2, 6-3