No. 18 Texas A&M Upsets No. 13 South Carolina in Thrilling Match

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The No. 13 South Carolina men’s tennis team (10-3, 3-2 SEC) suffered a narrow 4-3 defeat at the hands of No. 18 Texas A&M on Sunday afternoon. The Aggies secured the doubles point and the two teams ultimately split the singles matches, each claiming three victories.

Aggies Take Early Lead in Doubles Play

Texas A&M gained an initial advantage by winning the doubles point, securing victories in the first and third positions. The South Carolina pairings of Charlie Swaine & Atakan Karahan and Lucas da Silva & Paul Barbier Gazeu both fell with a score of 6-1.

Singles Showdown: A Back-and-Forth Battle

The singles matches proved to be a fierce contest, with South Carolina initially taking three of the first sets. Swaine (6-3), da Silva (6-1) and Gazeu (6-3) each established early leads in their respective matches. However, Texas A&M responded with a win from Alex Frusina, who defeated Sean Daryabeigi in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2.

Gamecocks Rally, But Aggies Prevail

Swaine secured the Gamecocks’ first singles victory of the day with a 6-3, 6-3 performance, narrowing the Aggies’ lead to 2-1. Atakan Karahan mounted a comeback on court four, tying his second set at 5-5 after losing the first. Lucas da Silva then leveled the match at 2-2 with a dominant 6-1, 6-4 win. Paul Barbier Gazeu continued the momentum, winning a tiebreak in his second set to give South Carolina a brief 3-2 lead.

The Aggies refused to concede, with Markus Molder winning a tiebreak to tie the match at 3-3. The decisive match came down to Max Stenzer, who had rebounded with a strong 6-1 second set. Despite a tight start to the third set, his opponent ultimately prevailed, winning 6-3 and clinching the victory for Texas A&M.

Looking Ahead

South Carolina will continue SEC play at home, facing Mississippi State on Friday, March 13 at 5:00 p.m.

Match Results

No. 18 Texas A&M 4, No. 13 South Carolina 3

Doubles (Order of Finish: 3, 1)

1. No. 29 Togan Tokac/Theo Papamalamis (TAMU) def. Lucas da Silva/Paul Barbier Gazeu (USC) 6-1
2. Alex Frusina/Lathan Skrobareck (TAMU) def. Charlie Swaine/Atakan Karahan (USC) 6-1

Singles (Order of Finish: 2, 6, 1, 3, 4, 5)

1. No. 16 Lucas da Silva (USC) def. No. 64 Theo Papamalamis (TAMU) 6-1, 6-4
2. No. 86 Alex Frusina (TAMU) def. No. 40 Sean Daryabeigi (USC) 6-3, 6-2
3. No. 100 Paul Barbier Gazeu (USC) def. Tiago Pires (TAMU) 6-3, 7-6(3)
4. Markus Molder (TAMU) def. Atakan Karahan (USC) 6-3, 7-6(5)
5. Togan Tokac (TAMU) def. Max Stenzer (USC) 7-6(3), 1-6, 6-3
6. Charlie Swaine (USC) def. Lathan Skrobareck (TAMU) 6-3, 6-3