Knoxville, Tenn. – No. 8 South Carolina men’s tennis defeated No. 9 Tennessee in Knoxville 4-2 on Saturday to advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the first time since 1989. The Gamecocks took the doubles point and secured wins on three singles courts in the victory.
In doubles, the Gamecocks struck first with a 6-3 win on Court 3, courtesy of Casey Hoole and Raphael Lambling. The Volunteers were quick to even the decision, with No. 59 Emile Hudd and Shunsuke Mitsui defeating No. 48 Jake Beasley and James Story 6-4.
The decision came down to Court 1 where the nation’s No. 1 pair of Connor Thomson and Toby Samuel taking on No. 4 Pat Harper and Johannus Monday. The match was dead even throughout with no breaks either way, sending it to a tiebreaker. In the breaker, play was again dead even with both teams claiming their own points until Harper managed to give the Gamecocks the lead after missing an overhead at 5-5 for South Carolina to lead 6-5. From there, Thomson was able to close out the match with a powerful serve that the Volunteers couldn’t return, clinching the doubles point at 7-6(5).
With the lead in their hands, the Gamecocks transitioned to singles but got off to a slow start, only taking one first set across all six courts. The lone winning set came from No. 116 Story on Court 3 who was taking on Tennessee’s Blaise Bicknell. Story took the first set 6-3 and followed it up with a dominant second set, winning it 6-1 to give South Carolina a 2-0 lead.
The next two singles matches fell in favor of the Volunteers with Tennessee taking wins on Courts 5 and 6 to even the match at 2-2.
The Gamecocks were able to flip all three remaining matches, forcing third sets on courts 1, 2, and 4. No. 122 Lambling was the first Gamecock to secure a comeback victory, his coming against No. 117 Mitsui. The Volunteer took the first set 6-3, but Lambling responded, taking the second set by the same margin. The third and final set was all Lambling with the fifth-year senior shutting out his opponent 6-0 to claim the point, putting the Gamecocks in a 3-2 lead.
Both matches on Courts 1 and 2 were in heated third sets but it was Thomson who ultimately clinched the match for the team. No. 16 Thomson faced a rematch against No. 31 Hudd from earlier in the SEC season and Thomson was out for revenge. The first set started with an early break from Thomson, but Hudd was able to battle back, securing a break of his own midway through to tie the set back up and…