COLUMBIA, S.C. – The 55
th-ranked Elon University men's tennis team suffered a 5-2 setback to No. 27 South Carolina to open its 2015 spring season today, Jan. 17, at the Carolina Tennis Center in Columbia, S.C.
"It took us a while to get used to the speed of the courts and the speed of play but I was proud of the way our guys battled back to make the match competitive," Elon head coach
Michael Leonard said.
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The Gamecocks captured the doubles point with wins on court Nos. 1 and 3. Elon's top duo of
Stefan Fortmann and
Brian Kowalski lost, 6-1, to Thiago Pinheiro and Kyle Koch while
Juan Madrid and
Robert Lindgren were defeated, 6-3, by South Carolina's Thomas Mayronne and Harrison O'Keefe, the 46
th-ranked doubles pair in the nation.
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On court No. 2,
Jordan Kaufman and
Chris Humphreys' match went unfinished, with the pair trailing, 5-4, to Andrew Adams and Sam Swank.
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South Carolina singles victories on court Nos. 2, 3 and 4 put the Gamecocks up 4-1 and clinched the match. Lindgren was defeated, 0-6, 5-7, by No. 118 Koch while Kowalski (2-6, 5-7) and
Josh Luck (1-6, 4-6) also lost in straight sets.
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Fortmann, playing at No. 1 singles, earned a point for the Phoenix with an impressive three-set victory over Pinheiro, the 71st-ranked singles player in the nation. Fortmann got off to a strong start with a 6-4 triumph in the first set before dropping the second set, 2-6. That left it up to a third-set tiebreaker that Fortmann won to clinch Elon's first point.
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On court No. 5, O'Keefe handled Elon's Kaufman, 6-1, 7-6. Madrid added a point for the Phoenix with a 6-1, 7-5 win in straight sets over the Gamecocks' Swank.
"We got two big wins from
Stefan Fortmann and
Juan Madrid," Leonard said. "I thought that was one of (Madrid's) best wins of his career."
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The Phoenix, now 0-1 on the season, will travel to face No. 17 Tennessee on Monday, Jan. 19, as part of the Tennessee Spring Invitational in a rematch of last year's first round NCAA Tournament matchup. The match is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. at the Goodfriend Tennis Center in Knoxville, Tenn.
--ELON--
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RESULTS#27 South Carolina 5, #55 Elon 2
Doubles (Order of Finish: 1, 3*)
1. Thiago Pinheiro/Kyle Koch (SC) def. Stefan Fortmann/Brian Kowalski (EU) 6-1
2. Andrew Adams/Sam Swank (SC) vs. Jordan Kaufman/Chris Humphreys (EU) 5-4 suspended
3. Thomas Mayronne/Harrison O'Keefe (SC) def. Juan Madrid/Robert Lindgren (EU) 6-3
Singles (Order of Finish: 2, 3, 4*, 1, 5, 6)
1. Stefan Fortmann (EU) def. (71) Thiago Pinheiro (SC) 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (9)
2. (118) Kyle Koch (SC) def. Robert Lindgren (EU) 6-0, 7-5
3. Andrew Adams (SC) def. Josh Luck (EU) 6-1, 6-4
4. (83) Andrew Schafer (SC) def. Brian Kowalski (EU) 6-2, 7-5
5. Harrison O'Keefe (SC) def. Jordan Kauffman (EU) 6-1, 7-6
6. Juan Madrid (EU) def. Sam Swank (SC) 6-1, 7-5Â
