Men's Tennis . May 3, 2025

Comeback Win Sends Gamecocks to Super Regionals

Box Score

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The No. 13 South Carolina men’s tennis team defeated No. 20 Florida State 4-3 in the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament on Saturday morning to book its fifth consecutive trip to the Super Regionals round. The Gamecocks battled back after dropping the doubles point and Sean Daryabeigi clinched the win with a 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 victory on court 3.

Things started off shaky for the Gamecocks as the duo of No. 56 Atakan Karahan and Jelani Sarr dropped their doubles match 6-2 from the second position. From the No. 3 position, Daryabiegi and Max Stenzer jumped out to a 3-1 lead, but Florida State’s Corey Craig and Erik Schiessl closed the gap to 5-4 and eventually tied it up at 5-5. Daryabiegi and Stenzer held strong, winning the match 7-5 to cut back on the Seminoles edge.

The deciding factor came down to the top of the lineup. Connor Thomson and Lucas da Silva traded games with their opponents throughout the entirety of the match, eventually moving to a tie break. They trailed by two games but managed to close the deficit to 5-4. The Gamecocks would ultimately dropped the match 7-6 (7-5), giving the Seminoles a 1-0 lead heading into singles play.

The two teams traded matches all throughout singles play, with the Gamecocks chasing the Florida State lead. No. 18 Thomson knotted the score up at 1-1 following a dominating 6-2, 6-1 takedown of No. 14 Corey Craig. The Seminoles took the lead back after No. 44 Jamie Connel defeated da Silva 6-3, 6-2. Gabe Avram evened the score at 2-2 with a convincing 6-2, 6-2 in from the sixth position, followed by Sarr falling 6-2, 6-4 to Florida State’s Youcef Rihane and putting the Seminoles within one point of clinching the match.

Karahan leveled it up again with a 6-3, 7-5 win from court 5, forcing a deciding match on court 3 where Daryabiegi was taking on Erik Schiessel. They each took a set apiece, with Daryabeigi winning the first set 6-3 and Schiessel taking the second 7-6. Daryabeigi clinched the Gamecock win with a 6-3 third set win, sending South Carolina to Super Regionals.

The Gamecocks will learn their location and opponent following the conclusion of the day’s matches.

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

(13) South Carolina 4, (20) Florida State 3

Doubles (order of finish 2,3,1)

Youcef Rihane/Joshua Dous-Karpenschif (FSU) def. #3 Connor Thomson/Lucas da Silva (SC) 7-6 (7-5)
Jamie Connel/Jan Sebesta (FSU) def. #56 Atakan Karahan/Jelani Sarr (SC) 6-2
Sean Daryabeigi/Max Stenzer (SC) def. Corey Craig/Erik Schiessl (FSU) 7-5

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