Men’s tennis loses to Georgia, Tennessee to drop SEC record to 0-4 to start the season
Coming off its fourth-consecutive loss to open conference play and fifth-straight loss overall, the South Carolina men’s tennis team has every reason to be dejected.
Friday’s 4-1 loss at the hands of Georgia was followed by falling on the wrong side of a clean 4-0 sweep versus Tennessee on Sunday left the Gamecocks two games under .500 at 7-9. However, coach Josh Goffi saw results that went much deeper than anything that appeared on the score line.
“When good tennis is played, the margin [for error] is extremely thin,” Goffi said. “So matches swing on one point at high levels all the time.”
In both weekend matches, South Carolina let opportunities to claim the doubles point and the early advantage slip away. After splitting the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles matches on Friday, junior Thiago Pinheiro and freshman Andrew Schafer rallied down a break at 4-7 to force a tiebreak in the No. 3 doubles match. The duo dropped the tiebreak, however, sacrificing an early lead the Georgia would not relinquish.
On Sunday, juniors Andrew Adams and Kyle Koch cruised to an 8-0 triumph in the No. 2 doubles match to earn their second victory of the weekend. After Pinheiro and Schafer dropped their match, seniors Tsvetan Mihov and Chip Cox were unable to hold on to the 6-5 lead they built, giving the Volunteers the upper hand.
Koch had the most successful weekend of any Gamecock, winning both of his doubles matches and his lone singles match in straight sets. Due to an unplayable court in the USC Fieldhouse, Koch as well as Schafer never took the court for singles play on Sunday.
Goffi noted that the shrinking room for error that comes with SEC play has made the doubles point increasingly crucial.
“We made a few immature decisions over the weekend when it came down to the doubles point,” Goffi said. “There were certain parts in each match that they’re calling the wrong plays at the wrong moments. That takes a lot of momentum out of the train when you lose the doubles point, especially on things you have in your control.”
Some of the plays Goffi referenced are new ones that he has tried to implement throughout the course of the season. While Goffi says the team has been hoping for better results, they are aware that the opportunity to be great still presents itself.
Despite the 0-4 start in SEC play, South Carolina finds themselves in a similar situation to the one they were in a year ago. In 2013, the 1-3 Gamecocks caught fire after back-to-back wins against Alabama and Auburn. Upcoming matches versus the same two opponents could not come at a better time for South Carolina.
Of the Gamecocks’ four SEC opponents thus far, three have been in the nation’s top 16. The other team, Florida, has been a perennial contender whose ranking is slightly deflated currently.
Although South Carolina has been held without a win thus far, Goffi is seeing things from this year’s team that show they can surpass their accomplishments from a year ago.
“We played these teams a whole lot closer than we did last year. We’re a better team than we were last year,” Goffi said. “We feel like we can have one of the better seasons in South Carolina history, still.”