Gamecocks Fall to Aggies in First Round of Indoor Championships
New York, N.Y. – No. 4 South Carolina men’s tennis fell 1-4 to No. 12 Texas A&M during the first round of the ITA Indoor Championships on Friday. The Gamecocks took the doubles point but could never get going in singles, losing on each of the top four courts.
In doubles, the Gamecocks struck first with Toby Samuel and Casey Hoole defeating Giulio Perego and Togan Tokac in a strong 6-2 showing at the top of the lineup. The Aggies claimed the No. 2 doubles match with a late break 6-4 to even the decision.
On the final court, freshmen Sean Daryabeigi and Jelani Sarr were paired against Raphael Perot and Tiago Pires. The Gamecocks had to battle from behind after giving up a pair of breaks to fall 0-3 early. The freshmen duo was able to battle back to tie things up at 4-4 and managed to claim another break to win 7-5, clinching the doubles point.
In singles play, all momentum was with the Aggies with Texas A&M taking five first sets. The first Aggie point came from Court 2 where No. 114 JC Roddick defeated Hoole 6-3, 6-1. They were quick to take the lead in the match with a 6-3, 7-5 victory on Court 4 where No. 76 Sarr fell to No. 103 Perego. Shortly after, the Aggies took tiebreak second sets on Courts 3 and 1 to clinch the match.
South Carolina will continue in the consolation rounds of the ITA Indoor Championships tomorrow, facing 15th-seeded and 20th-ranked Arizona State at 9:00 a.m. The two programs have faced twice before in 1988 and 1989 with Arizona State winning both matches.
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(12) Texas A&M 4, (4) South Carolina 1
Doubles (order of finish: 1, 2, 3)
- Toby Samuel/Casey Hoole (SC) def. Giulio Perego/Togan Tokac (TAMU) 6-2
- Luke Casper/JC Roddick (TAMU) def. James Story/Lucas Andrade da Silva (SC) 6-4
- Jelani Sarr/Sean Daryabeigi (SC) def. Raphael Perot/Tiago Pires (TAMU) 7-5
Singles (order of finish: 2, 4, 3, 1)
- #57 Raphael Perot (TAMU) def. #50 Toby Samuel (SC) 6-4, 7-6 (10-8)
- #114 JC Roddick (TAMU) def. Casey Hoole (SC) 6-3, 6-1
- Togan Tokac (TAMU) def. James Story (SC) 6-3, 7-6 (7-5)
- #103 Giulio Perego (TAMU) def. #76 Jelani Sarr (SC) 6-3, 7-5
- Lucas Andrade da Silva (SC) vs. Tiago Pires (TAMU) 6-3, 5-7, 2-0, unfinished
- Sean Daryabeigi (SC) vs. Luke Casper (TAMU) 5-7, 5-5, unfinished