No. 28 Clemson Falls to No. 29 South Carolina Saturday Afternoon

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The No. 28 Clemson men’s tennis team suffered a 6-1 loss to No. 29 South Carolina Saturday afternoon in Columbia. The loss is Clemson’s third straight and the Tigers fall to 2-3 on the season while South Carolina improves to 4-1. The Tigers’ three losses have been at the hands of the No. 18, No. 23 and No. 29 teams in the national rankings.

The Clemson duo of Christian Harris and Hampton Drake won at No. 2 doubles over the 46th-ranked South Carolina team of Thomas Mayronne and Harrison O’Keefe. The Gamecocks came away with the doubles point in the match after wins at No. 1 doubles and No. 3 doubles.

In singles, Clemson senior co-captain Hunter Harrington was victorious in the No. 1 slot. Harrington, ranked 69th nationally, won 6-4, 7-6(4) over Andrew Adams. Junior Austin Ansari won a resounding first set over South Carolina’s Kyle Koch, ranked 118th nationally, before ultimately falling in three sets. 

Clemson hits the court next on Saturday, Feb. 7 when the Tigers host Gardner-Webb, Mercer and Wofford in their first home matches of the season. The action begins at 9 a.m. More details will be available later in the week.

#29 South Carolina 6, #28 Clemson 1

Doubles

1. Thiago Pinheiro/Kyle Koch (USC) def. #60 Hunter Harrington/Alejandro Augusto (CU) 7-6 (3)
2. Hampton Drake/Christian Harris (CU) def. #45 Thomas Mayronne/Harrison O’Keefe (USC) 6-4
3. Andrew Adams/Andrew Schafer (USC) def. Austin Ansari/Luke Johnson (CU) 6-4

Order of finish: 3, 2, 1

Singles

1. #69 Hunter Harrington (CU) def. Andrew Adams (USC) 6-4, 7-6 (4)
2. Thiago Pinheiro (USC) def. Alejandro Augusto (CU) 7-6 (4), 6-0
3. Kyle Koch (USC) def. Austin Ansari (CU) 2-6, 6-2, 6-0
4. Andrew Schafer (CU) def. Luke Johnson (CU) 6-3, 6-3
5. Harrison O’Keefe (USC) def. Hampton Drake (CU) 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-3
6. Sam Swank (USC) def. Daffra Sanon (CU) 1-6, 6-1, 7-5

Order of finish: 4, 2, 3, 1, 5, 6