Gamecocks Earn Fifth Consecutive Victory at LSU

BATON ROUGE, La. – The No. 18 South Carolina men’s tennis team took down its fifth straight SEC opponent on Friday evening, defeating LSU 4-2 on the road.

The Gamecocks opened action on a high note in doubles action as No. 15 Connor Thomson and Lucas da Silva picked up their eighth consecutive victory as a duo, topping No. 68 Julien Penzlin and Aleksi Lofman 6-3. Casey Hoole and Sean Daryabeigi followed up on their momentum, winning by the same margin to officially clinch the doubles point and get the Gamecocks an early edge on LSU.

The Tigers turned on the heat going into singles action, picking up three first set wins while the Gamecocks claimed the remaining three with Hoole (6-3), da Silva (6-1) and Atakan Karahan (6-3).

Karahan took the first singles win in straight sets, defeating his opponent 6-3, 6-4 to extend the Gamecocks’ lead to 2-0. Hoole followed in a similar fashion, matching Karahan’s score to grab the third point for the Garnet & Black and get the team one within clinching.

LSU then began to fight back as Andrej Loncarevic defeated Gabe Avram 6-4, 6-4 to get the Tigers on the board with their first point of the match. Despite an attempted comeback from Jelani Sarr who bounced back to win his second set after dropping his first, LSU grabbed its second point of the match to come within one point of the Gamecocks with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 win from Rudy Ceccon over Sarr at the bottom of the lineup.

The clincher for the Gamecocks came from the middle court where Daryabeigi dominantly defeated Sasa Markovic in a three set comeback. After narrowly dropping his first set 6(5)-7, Daryabeigi cruised past Markovic in the next two sets. The sophomore didn’t allow the Tiger to win a single game, sweeping him 6-0 for both sets.

The Gamecocks continue their road trip at No. 20 Mississippi State on Sun., March 23 at 2:00 p.m. (ET).

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

(18) South Carolina 4, LSU 2

Doubles (order of finish: 1,3)

1. #15 Connor Thomson/Lucas da Silva (SC) def. #68 Julien Penzlin/Aleksi Lofman (LSU) 6-3
2. Sasa Markovic/Andrej Loncarevic (LSU) vs. #87 Jelani Sarr/Atakan Karahan (SC) 4-4, unfinished
3. Casey Hoole/Sean Daryabeigi (SC) def. Brock Anderson/Alessio Vasquez (LSU) 6-3

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

1. Casey Hoole (SC) def. Julien Penzlin (LSU) 6-3, 6-4
2. Lucas da Silva (SC) led Alessio Vasquez (LSU) 6-1, 3-6, 4-3, unfinished
3. #82 Sean Daryabeigi (SC) def. Sasa Markovic (LSU) 6(5)-7, 6-0, 6-0
4. Atakan Karahan (SC) def. Aleksi Lofman (LSU) 6-3, 6-4
5. Andrej Loncarevic (LSU) def. Gabe Avram (SC) 6-4, 6-4
6. Rudy Ceccon (LSU) def. #106 Jelani Sarr (SC) 6-2, 1-6, 6-1