Columbia, S.C. – No. 2 South Carolina men’s tennis advanced to the second round of action at the ITA Kickoff Weekend on Saturday with a 4-2 win over rival Clemson. The Tigers took the doubles point but the Gamecocks were able to get the job done in singles for their ninth consecutive win over Clemson.

In doubles, the absence of two-time doubles All-American Connor Thomson was again felt with the Gamecocks dropping the doubles point in a 2-6 loss on Court 1 and a 4-6 loss on Court 3.

Once play moved to singles, things were looking good for South Carolina with the Gamecocks taking first sets on five of the six courts.

The first singles point came from the top of the lineup where Toby Samuel made quick work of Clemson’s Ryuhei Azuma 6-3, 6-1. Just minutes later Lucas Andrade da Silva gave South Carolina the lead with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Matt Pitts at the No. 4 spot in the lineup.

Senior Carter Morgan was the next Gamecock to put a point on the board. He defeated Spencer Whitaker 6-3, 6-4 at the No. 6 position.

Clemson’s lone singles point came from Court 2 where No. 92 Casey Hoole fell to Wissam Adberrahman 4-6, 5-7.

With South Carolina leading 3-2, the final matches on were both in the hands of freshmen with Jelani Sarr having split sets with Marko Mesarovic and Sean Daryabeigi having split with Stewart Aronson.

Sarr rose to the occasion and blasted off to a 5-0 start to his final set and closed it out 6-2 to clinch the match. The win was the first dual singles win of his career and his first match clinch.

South Carolina now advances to the second round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend and will face LSU on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. in the regional championship match. Admission to the match is free and open to the public with free parking available in the tennis center parking lot. The team will also be collecting canned goods to donate to the Gamecock Pantry.

Live stats for the match will be available here with live streaming here. The match will also be broadcast by Cracked Racquets on ESPN+.