COLUMBIA, S.C. -The No. 41 Vanderbilt men’s tennis team fell 4-2 in a hard-fought contest to the 26th-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks on Friday night.
The Gamecocks started off Friday’s match by taking the upper hand, clinching the one-point advantage with a pair of doubles victories. Pen Binet and Panu Virtanen fell to South Carolina’s Alex Fennell and Sam Swank, 6-2. Meanwhile, No. 47 Yancy Dennis and Harrison O’Keefe defeated newly ranked No. 39 Lachlan McPhee and Billy Rowe, 6-3.
Juniors Daniel Valent and Baker Newman were leading Gabriel Friedrich and Andrew Schaffer on court three, 5-3, at the doubles clinch.
In singles, Valent quickly tied the match with a straight-set ranked victory at No.1 singles. The junior from Zurich, Switzerland limited No. 88 O’Keefe to just five games in his 6-2, 6-3 victory.
South Carolina nabbed the 2-1 lead as Panu Virtanen fell to Alex Fennell in the first of five three-set matches. But the Commodores weren’t finished, rallying to take the second set, 6-4. However, the Gamecocks managed to take the match, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
Lachlan McPhee nearly generated the Commodores’ second point of the outing, but South Carolina’s Yancy Dennis earned key points in a paramount third set for the 3-1 advantage, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4.
Making his debut on court three for the black and gold, Rowe earned a crucial first set advantage, 6-4, against Schaffer. Reeling off the deficit, the Gamecock limited the freshman Commodore to one game in the second set. But Rowe turned things on when it counted to take the match, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2.
The Gamecocks clinched the match on court six, as Paul Judd defeated Alex Ross in a close third set battle, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4.
Vanderbilt keeps its bags packed for Sunday’s road match, in which it will take on the 12th-ranked Florida Gators in Gainesville at noon CT.
#26 South Carolina def. #41 Vanderbilt, 4-2
Singles
1. Daniel Valent (VU) def. #88 Harrison O’Keefe (SC) 6-2, 6-3
2. #59 Gabriel Friedrich (SC) vs. Baker Newman (VU) 4-6, 6-1, 4-2 susp.
3. Billy Rowe (VU) def. Andrew Schafer (SC) 6-4, 1-6, 6-2
4. Yancy Dennis (SC) def. Lachlan McPhee (VU) 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
5. Alex Fennell (SC) def. Panu Virtanen (VU) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
6. Paul Jubb (SC) def. Alex Ross (VU) 6-1, 3-6, 6-4
Order of Finish: 1, 5, 4, 3, 6
Doubles
1. #47 Dennis/O’Keefe (SC) def. #39 McPhee/Rowe (VU) 6-3
2. Fennell/Sam Swank (SC) def. Pen Binet/Virtanen (VU) 6-2
3. Friedrich/Schafer (SC) vs. Newman/Valent (VU) 3-5 susp.
Order of Finish: 2, 1
