COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 37 Vanderbilt lost its fifth straight match Friday, falling 5-2 to No. 31 South Carolina at the Sam Daniel Tennis Center. The match was the SEC opener for both teams.
The loss dropped Vanderbilt to 4-7 overall and 0-1 in the SEC, while South Carolina won its eighth straight match to move to 11-1 (1-0 SEC) on the season. The loss was Vanderbilt’s third in a row by a 5-2 margin.
Vanderbilt entered the match having won two in a row over the Gamecocks, but the streak was quickly put to rest as South Carolina won the first four completed matches to clinch the overall match.
The Commodores have lost five in a row, but the losses have come against opponents that are all currently ranked among the top 31 teams in the nation.
After winning the doubles point in six of its first eight matches of the season, Vanderbilt dropped the doubles point for the third time in a row on Friday to fall behind the Gamecocks 1-0.
The Gamecocks would then go on to win the first three completed singles matches to take a 4-0 lead and clinch the overall match. South Carolina was able to earn wins in the Nos. 1, 4 and 3 positions to clinch the win.
Earning the two points for the Commodores were Charlie Jones and Alex Zotov in singles play. Jones won his match in the No. 5 position over Johannes Pulsfort. Jones won the first set 6-1 and was trailing 5-4 in the second set before Pulsfort had to retire from the match. The win ended a two-match losing streak for Jones.
Zotov won for the fifth time in his last six matches with a 7-5, 6-4 win over 110th-ranked Ivan Cressoni in the No. 6 position. The win was Zotov’s second of the season over a ranked foe.
Vanderbilt will conclude its road trip Sunday when the Commodores open SEC play with a 12 p.m. match at No. 9 Florida.
