The Gamecocks men's tennis team has come close to scoring several big-time wins this year, but seem to always lose by a score of 4-3. The story was different Sunday, however, as the Gamecocks ended the regular season with a bang as they fought their way to a 4-3 victory over No. 12 Arkansas.
The match did not start well for the Gamecocks. Thomas Mayronne and Andrew Schafer dropped the No. 3 doubles match 6-2, and Gabriel Friedrich and Harrison O’Keefe were defeated in the No. 1 match 6-1.
Singles, however, got off to a great start. O’Keefe rebounded from the doubles loss by coming out and absolutely dominating in the No. 3 match. He defeated Giammarco Micolani 6-0, 6-2. Alex Fennell kept the momentum alive by easily winning the No. 4 match, also with scores of 6-0, 6-2.
Jose Salazar of Arkansas, ranked No. 76 in the nation, defeated No. 66 Gabriel Friedrich in the No. 1 match by a score of 6-1, 6-3. Wood Benton then dropped the No. 6 match 5-7, 4-6. Now the Gamecocks were down 2-3 and could not lose another match.
Mayronne ground out a 7-5, 6-4 victory in the No. 5 match to tie things up. It all came down to Schafer in the No. 2 match. He dropped the first set 4-6, but fought back in the second set and won 7-5. Finally, the Gamecocks secured the victory after Schafer won the final set 6-4.
South Carolina (13-14, 4-8) finished the regular season Sunday, and they will begin SEC Tournament play this Wednesday in Columbia.