Senior Andrew Schafer, junior Thomas Mayronne and sophomore Yancy Dennis represented South Carolina men’s tennis in Atlanta this weekend for the Georgia Tech Invitational.
Schafer got the nod to play in the DI singles bracket. In his first match on Friday he lost in two sets to Georgia Tech’s Andrew Li by scores of 6-4, 6-2.
Mayronne and Dennis were in the DII bracket, where both picked up victories. Mayronne defeated Auburn’s Connor Huertas in three sets and Dennis won in two sets against Alex Philips of UGA.
There was also the DI doubles bracket where Mayronne and Schafer teamed up to get the 8-5 victory over Vanderbilt’s Klinger and Rowe.
Unfortunately, Schafer got off to an inauspicious start on the second day. In the consolation DI bracket, he lost to Florida State’s Jose Garcia in a tough three-set match by a score of 7-5, 6-7, 6-1. He then won his second match against Srdjan Jakovljevic of Tennessee via walkover.
Meanwhile, Mayronne and Yancy had great second days. Mayronne played two Georgia Tech players in the quarter and semifinal matches. He won the quarterfinals match in a three set thriller against Cole Fiegel by a score of 6-4, 2-6, 7-5. He then went on to win the semifinals match in two sets against Chris Yun by a score of 7-5, 6-1.
Mayronne and Schafer dropped their doubles match against Georgia’s Loeb and Zielinski by a score of 8-1.
Sunday was an interesting day for the Gamecocks. Since Mayronne and Yancy both won all their matches they faced each other in the DII singles final. Yancy got the best of his teammate in a two set match that finished in a final score of 6-3, 6-4.
In consolation matches, Andrew Schafer closed the invitational with a two set victory over Robert Loeb of Georgia. Schafer picked up another Sunday victory when he and Thomas Mayronne won 8-3 in the doubles match against Florida State’s duo of Bhullar and Knaff.
The Gamecocks next set of matches come this weekend in Cary, NC when they play at the ITA Carolina Regionals.