Men’s Tennis Secures Victory on the Road

Tuscaloosa, Ala. – No. 16 South Carolina men’s tennis claimed its second consecutive road win at No. 24 Alabama on Friday night. The Gamecocks claimed the doubles point and three singles matches in the victory.

In doubles, the first win of the day came from the bottom of the lineup where the freshman duo of Jelani Sarr and Sean Daryabeigi claimed a dominant 6-2 victory. Shortly after, Alabama evened things with a 6-3 victory at the No. 2 position, leaving the doubles point in the hands of the top court.

At the top of the lineup, the nation’s No. 10 pair of Casey Hoole and Toby Samuel were taking on No. 74 Filip Planinsek and Andrii Zimnokh. The Gamecock pair was able to claim a break late in the set and carry the lead out to the end, winning it 6-4 to secure the doubles point.

In singles, the Crimson Tide was able to tie things up with Zimnokh defeating James Story at the No. 3 position. At the bottom of the lineup, sophomore Lucas Andrade da Silva got the lead back for the Gamecocks, winning his match  7-6(3), 6-2.

The lead didn’t last long for the Gamecocks though with Alabama claiming wins on Courts 2 and 4 to take their first lead of the night at 3-2.

At the top of the lineup, No. 49 Samuel evened the match once again with his victory over No. 46 Planinsek.

With things tied at 3-3, all eyes turned to Court 5 where Daryabeigi had split sets with sophomore Roan Jones. Daryabeigi claimed the first set in a tiebreak but Jones took the second 6-4. In the decisive final set, the Gamecock claimed a break on Jones’ first service game but Jones was able to take the break back late to force the match to a tiebreaker. The breaker was all Daryabeigi with the Gamecock coming out on top 7-6(2).

The men’s tennis team will continue action on the road this weekend, stopping in Auburn to take on the No. 35 Tigers. The match will be on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET.

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

(16) South Carolina 4, (24) Alabama 3

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

1. #10 Toby Samuel/Casey Hoole (SC) def. #74 Filip Planinsek/Andrii Zimnokh (UA) 6-4
2. Enzo Aguiard/Zach Foster (UA) def. James Story/Lucas da Silva (SC) 6-3
3. Sean Daryabeigi/Jelani Sarr (SC) def. Matic Dimic/Roan Jones (UA) 6-2 

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

1. #49 Toby Samuel (SC) def. #46 Filip Planinsek (UA) 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
2. #69 Enzo Aguiard (UA) def. #96 Casey Hoole (SC) 7-6 (7-3), 6-3
3. Andrii Zimnokh (UA) def. James Story (SC) 6-2, 6-2
4. Matias Ponce De Leon (UA) def. Jelani Sarr (SC) 6-3, 7-6 (7-4)
5. Sean Daryabeigi (SC) def. Roan Jones (UA) 7-6 (7-2), 4-6, 7-6 (7-2)
6. Lucas Andrade da Silva (SC) def. Matic Dimic (UA) 7-6 (7-3), 6-2