Columbia, S.C. – No. 19 South Carolina men’s tennis tennis narrowly fell 3-4 to No. 48 Vanderbilt on Sunday afternoon at the Carolina Tennis Center. The Gamecocks were again without junior Casey Hoole and dropped the doubles point but claimed three singles matches, losing the decisive final match in three sets.
Prior to the match, South Carolina honored their senior class of Carter Morgan, Toby Samuel and James Story for their contributions to the program.
During the match, the Commordores were able to claim the doubles point with a pair of wins at the bottom of the lineup.
Play transitioned to singles where Samuel was the first to tally a point. The senior was unstoppable in his match, defeating No. 72 Danil Panarin 6-0, 6-0 to remain perfect in SEC play.
Lucas Andrade da Silva claimed the next singles point to give South Carolina a 2-1 lead. The sophomore won his match 7-5, 6-1 for the point.
The next two points went to Vanderbilt with the Commodores claiming wins on Courts 3 and 4 to take the lead back 3-2.
From there, Story was able to complete his comeback, winning 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 to tie things up at 3-3.
The match decision fell to Court 6 where Morgan was down a set and 1-3. The senior fought back through, going on a run to lead 5-3 and close out the set 6-4. The heat got the better of him though and cramps hindered him throughout the final set with Morgan falling 3-6.
The men’s tennis team will continue action at home of Wednesday, host South Carolina State and NC A&T at 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
For all the latest South Carolina men’s tennis information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockMTennis).
(48) Vanderbilt 4, (19) South Carolina 3
Doubles (order of finish: 3, 2)
- Lucas da Silva/James Story (SC) vs. Joubert Klopper/Michael Ross (VANDY-M) 6-5, unfinished
- Jeremie Casabon/Nathan Cox (VANDY-M) def. Toby Samuel/Carter Morgan (SC) 7-5
- Danil Panarin/Hugo Coquelin (VANDY-M) def. Sean Daryabeigi/Jelani Sarr (SC) 6-4
Singles (order of finish: 1, 5, 3, 4, 2, 6)
- #19 Toby Samuel (SC) def. #72 Danil Panarin (VANDY-M) 6-0, 6-0
- James Story (SC) def. Joubert Klopper (VANDY-M) 1-6, 6-1, 6-2
- Nathan Cox (VANDY-M) def. Sean Daryabeigi (SC) 7-5, 6-4
- Jeremie Casabon (VANDY-M) def. Jelani Sarr (SC) 6-3, 7-5
- Lucas da Silva (SC) def. Michael Ross (VANDY-M) 7-5, 6-1
- Hugo Coquelin (VANDY-M) def. Carter Morgan (SC) 7-6 (7-2), 4-6, 6-3