Samuel, Hoole Record Top-5 Doubles Upset in Loss to No. 3 Texas

New York, N.Y. – No. 4 South Carolina men’s tennis fell 0-5 in its final match at the ITA Indoor Championships on Sunday. The Gamecocks narrowly dropped the doubles point and were outmatched in singles in the loss.

In doubles, the Longhorns were first to claim a win with South Carolina’s freshmen duo of Jelani Sarr and Sean Daryabeigi suffering their first loss of the weekend at the No. 3 position.

At the top of the lineup, Toby Samuel and Casey Hoole were in a heated battle against No. 5 Cleeve Harper and Elliot Spizzirri. The match was neck-and-neck but the Gamecocks were able to find a break late in the match to win it 6-4. The Gamecock duo is now 4-1 together this season and the win was their second consecutive win over a top-15 ranked team. The No. 5 doubles upset marks the highest ranked doubles win of Hoole’s career.

The doubles point decision fell to the No. 2 court where James Story and Lucas Andrade da Silva were taking on Pierre-Yves Bailly and Eshan Talluri. The Gamecock pair claimed a break early but the Longhorns broke back to force the match to a tiebreak. In the breaker the Gamecocks again took and early lead but the Longhorns surged back to take the win 7-6(5).

In singles play, the Gamecocks could never find their footing with the Longhorns taking first sets on each of the top five courts.

The first Texas point came at the No. 5 court where sixth-year Harper defeated da Silva 6-2, 6-1 and the Longhorns next two points came in succession with No. 1 Spizzirri defeating No. 50 Samuel and No. 2 Micah Braswell defeating Casey Hoole at the top two spots in the lineup. Daryabeigi was leading No. 37 Jonah Braswell at the No. 6 position when play was suspended.

South Carolina will be in action next at home, hosting the Citadel in a doubleheader on Feb. 28 before the SEC season begins on March 1.

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

(3) Texas 5, (4) South Carolina 0

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

1. Toby Samuel/Casey Hoole (SC) def. #5 Cleeve Harper/Eliot Spizzirri (UT) 6-4
2. Pierre-Yves Bailly/Eshan Talluri (UT) def. James Story/Lucas da Silva (SC) 7-6 (7-5)
3. Micah Braswell/Gilles-Arnaud Bailly (UT) def. Sean Daryabeigi/Jelani Sarr (SC) 6-3

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

1. #1 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. #50 Toby Samuel (SC) 6-3, 6-2
2. #2 Micah Braswell (UT) def. Casey Hoole (SC) 6-2, 6-4
3. Gilles-Arnaud Bailly (UT) vs. James Story (SC) 6-3, 5-3, unfinished
4. #53 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) def. #76 Jelani Sarr (SC) 6-3, 6-1
5. Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Lucas da Silva (SC) 6-2, 6-1
6. #37 Jonah Braswell (UT) vs. Sean Daryabeigi (SC) 3-6, 4-1, unfinished