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Goffi Earns 200th Coaching Win as South Carolina Defeats Baylor
Men's Tennis  . 

Goffi Earns 200th Coaching Win as South Carolina Defeats Baylor

Chicago, Ill. – No. 8 South Carolina men’s tennis defeated No. 10 Baylor 4-0 on the second day of action at the ITA Indoor National Championships. The Gamecocks won the doubles point and three singles matches to blank their top-10 opponents.

In doubles, No. 59 Raphael Lambling and Casey Hoole were the first to get a win, taking down their opponents 6-2. The Bears wouldn’t give in easy though, taking a win on Court 2 to even the decision. All eyes turned to Court 1 where there was a top-10 battle between No. 3 Toby Samuel and Connor Thomson and No. 9 Finn Bass and Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi.

The Gamecock pair got off to a hot start and appeared to have the match in the bag, leading 5-1, but their Baylor counterparts battled back to tie the match at five all. On Baylor’s serve, the Gamecocks again had an opportunity after breaking their opponents to go up 6-5, but the Bears responded with a break of their own to tie the match again at six all and force a tiebreak.

Bass and Mazzuchi took the first point of the tiebreak, but Samuel and Thomson took the next two. The Bears evened the tiebreak at two all, but the Gamecocks found new life and took the next four points. The Baylor pair only was able to gather one additional point before Samuel and Thomson won the match 7-6(3) to clinch the doubles point.

Play moved to singles where the Gamecocks took first sets on five of the six courts. Hoole was the first Gamecock to get a singles win on the day, dominating his opponent to win 6-0, 6-1.

Samuel was the next Gamecock to secure a point for the team. The No. 11 ranked junior took on No. 117 Tadeas Paroulek. Samuel looked strong in the first set, winning it 6-1. His opponent fought hard in the second set though, going game-for-game with Samuel and forcing the set to a tiebreaker. Samuel was a force to be reckoned with in the tiebeaker, taking it 7-3 for the match victory.

It was junior James Story who clinched the match for South Carolina. Story battled through two gritty sets, taking late service breaks in each to secure the match win 6-4, 6-4.

This win marks head coach Josh Goffi’s 200th career win as head coach at South Carolina. Goffi began with the Gamecocks in July 2010 and is coaching in his 13th season with the team.

South Carolina will play their final match at the Indoor Championships tomorrow, taking on a familiar foe in No. 12 North Carolina at 10 a.m. ET. The two Carolinas have already met once this season in Columbia with South Carolina pulling off a gritty 4-3 win.

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, (10) Baylor 0

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

  1. #3 Toby Samuel/Connor Thomson (SC) def. #9 Finn Bass/Juan Pablo Grassi Ma (BU) 7-6 (7-3)
  2. Tadeas Paroulek/Zsombor Velcez (BU) def. #30 Jake Beasley/James Story (SC) 6-4
  3. #59 Raphael Lambling/Casey Hoole (SC) def. Luc Koenig/Ethan Muza (BU) 6-2

Singles (order of finish: 5, 1, 4)

  1. #11 Toby Samuel (SC) def. #117 Tadeas Paroulek (BU) 6-1, 7-6 (3-7)
  2. #12 Connor Thomson (SC) vs. Marko Miladinovic (BU) 6-3, 5-5, unfinished
  3. #67 Raphael Lambling (SC) vs. #44 Finn Bass (BU) 6-4, 4-4, unfinished
  4. James Story (SC) def. Zsombor Velcez (BU) 6-4, 6-4
  5. Casey Hoole (SC) def. Luc Koenig (BU) 6-0, 6-1
  6. Jake Beasley (SC) vs. #117 Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi (BU) 5-7, 5-6, unfinished

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