Men's Tennis . March 4, 2023

Gamecocks Shut Out Vanderbilt In Nashville

Nashville, Tenn. – No. 6 South Carolina men’s tennis shut out Vanderbilt 4-0 on Saturday afternoon on the Commodores’ home courts in Nashville. The Gamecocks secured the doubles point and won three straight singles matches for the victory.

South Carolina continued their dominant doubles performances against Vanderbilt. Coming off of a ranked win, Jake Beasley and James Story were hot, winning their match in a strong 6-2 showing. They won four straight games to secure the victory.

The doubles point was again clinched from the top of the lineup where the nation’s No. 1 pair of Toby Samuel and Connor Thomson took down their opponents 6-3.

The team is now 26-5 overall in dual doubles play and have only dropped the point once in 13 matches. They later went on to win that match despite losing the point.

In singles, Samuel was the first to secure a point. The No. 6 junior was dominant in his match, nearly shutting out his opponent with a 6-1, 6-0 result.

Raphael Lambling was the next Gamecock to get a win. The No. 80-ranked graduate also put up a dominating performance, winning his match 6-1, 6-2.

Story was the one to finally deliver the match clinch for the team. The junior found a late break in his first set to win it 6-4, but fell to 3-5 in the second set. He was able to battle back to win the next three games and send the set to a tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, Story took an early 4-1 lead and was able to carry the lead through, finishing the tiebreaker 7-6(4).

Two other Gamecocks were on their way to victory when play was suspended. Casey Hoole was leading his opponent 6-4, 6-5 while Beasley was leading his 7-6(5), 6-5.

This win gives South Carolina their fourth-straight win over the Commodores and is the first time the Gamecocks have ever shut out Vanderbilt in Nashville.

The team will return to Columbia for their first home match since January on Wednesday, March 8. They will host a top-5 opponent in Ohio State at 1:00 p.m. at the Carolina Tennis Center.

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

(6) South Carolina 4, Vanderbilt 0

Doubles (order of finish: 2, 1)

#1 Connor Thomson/Toby Samuel (SC) def. Siim Troost/Jeremie Casabon (VANDY) 6-3
Jake Beasley/James Story (SC) def. Michael Ross/Nathan Cox (VANDY) 6-2
Joubert Klopper/Macsen Sisam (VANDY) vs. Raphael Lambling/Casey Hoole (SC) 5-4, unfinished

Singles (order of finish: 1, 3, 4)