Carolina outlasts Old Dominion in first round of NCAA Tournament

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — No. 29 South Carolina men’s tennis (19-8) opened the 2018 NCAA Tournament with a 4-1 win over Old Dominion (19-7) to secure a spot in Sunday’s round of the 32. The Gamecocks, who will play top-ranked Wake Forest in the final match of the Winston-Salem Regional, have now won three straight first-round matches in the NCAA Tournament.

Carolina overcame a slow start in doubles and edged out a pair of 7-5 wins at Nos. 1 and 2 to clinch the Gamecocks’ sixth doubles point in their last seven matches.

South Carolina jumped out to a 2-0 lead after a dominant showing by Yancy Dennis at No. 4 singles, which was followed by wins from the Gamecocks’ two ranked singles players, No. 59 Paul Jubb and No. 40 Gabriel Friedrich, to clinch the match win.

South Carolina improves to 7-7 all-time in the first round of the NCAA Tournament under the current 64-team format. The Gamecocks, who had never played ODU in the NCAA Tournament prior to Saturday’s win, picked up a second win over the Monarchs on the season after winning 6-1 in a non-conference match back in February.

South Carolina advances to the NCAA Tournament round of 32 where it will play top-ranked Wake Forest on Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex.