Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

The Citadel Athletics

The Citadel Athletics | The Military College of South Carolina
Bencedic_Z_20MTEN_atSC_MA_01
Milledge Austin/The Citadel
0
The Citadel CIT (0-1)
7
Winner South Carolina SC (1-0)
The Citadel CIT
(0-1)
0
Final
7
South Carolina SC
(1-0)
Winner
0
The Citadel CIT (0-2)
7
Winner South Carolina SC (2-0)
The Citadel CIT
(0-2)
0
Final
7
South Carolina SC
(2-0)
Winner

Match Recap: Men's Tennis |

Bulldog Tennis Drops First Matches of Season at No. 16 South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Citadel men's tennis team kicked off the 2020 season Friday afternoon with a pair of hard-fought matches against a strong, nationally-ranked South Carolina team. The 16th-ranked Gamecocks took both matches by scores of 7-0, but the Bulldogs managed to take key sets and didn't give up any easy points.

Match Information
Location: Columbia, S.C. (Carolina Tennis Center)
Match 1 Final Score: #16 South Carolina 7, The Citadel 0
Match 2 Final Score: #16 South Carolina 7, The Citadel 0
Records: South Carolina (2-0), The Citadel (0-2)

Match 1 Rundown
  • The nationally-ranked Gamecocks opened the day's first match by taking the doubles point with a clean sweep of the Bulldogs, but senior Noah Nawabi and sophomore Phillip Quinn put up a strong effort, taking three sets from Daniel Rodrigues and Raphael Lambling at No. 2 doubles.
  • In singles action, Quinn took five sets from Beau Pelletier, falling 6-2, 6-3 at No. 6 singles.
  • Nawabi took four sets from Connor Thomson, falling 6-2, 6-2 at No. 3.
  • Junior Gavin Stewart and senior Jack Pyritz each took two sets from their opponents, falling 6-1, 6-1 at No. 1 and No. 4 singles.

Match 1 Results
Doubles
1. Paul Jubb / Connor Thomson (SC) def. Gavin Stewart / Zvonko Bencedic (The Citadel) 6-1
2. Daniel Rodrigues / Raphael Lambling (SC) def. Noah Nawabi / Phillip Quinn (The Citadel) 6-3
3. Phillip Jordan / Jake Beasley (SC) def. Will Graham / Leo du Plooy (The Citadel) 6-2

Singles
1. Rodrigues (SC) def. Stewart (The Citadel) 6-1, 6-1
2. Lambling (SC) def. Graham (The Citadel) 6-0, 6-0
3. Thomas (SC) def. Nawabi (The Citadel) 6-2, 6-2
4. Jordan (SC) def. Jack Pyritz (The Citadel) 6-1, 6-1
5. Thomas Brown (SC) def. Josiah Schainblatt (The Citadel) 6-0, 6-0
6. Beau Pelletier (SC) def. Quinn (The Citadel) 6-2, 6-3


Match 2 Rundown
  • The Gamecocks once again swept doubles action, but the tandem of Nawabi and Quinn and the duo of Graham and du Plooy each taking a set from their opponents at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles.
  • In singles action, not a single Bulldog lost in straight sets, showing marked improvement.
  • The highlight of the match came at No. 5 singles where freshman Zvonko Bencedic pushed Pelletier to an exciting tie breaker in the second set. After falling 6-3 in the first set, Bencedic led Pelletier, 6-5, late, but the Gamecock was able to push through in the end to claim the win.
  • At No. 6 singles, Quinn put together another strong performance by taking four combined sets from Jake Beasley, falling 6-2, 6-2.
  • Graham opened his No. 2 singles match with a strong showing that included three sets won for the Bulldog, but Thomson ultimately won the match 6-3, 6-0.

Match 2 Results
Doubles
1. Connor Thomson / Raphael Lambling (SC) def. Gavin Stewart / Zvonko Bencedic (The Citadel) 6-0
2. Phillip Jordan / Jake Beasley (SC) def. Noah Nawabi / Phillip Quinn (The Citadel) 6-1
3. Thomas Brown / Beau Pelletier (SC) def. Will Graham / Leo du Plooy (The Citadel) 6-1

Singles
1. Lambling (SC) def. Stewart (The Citadel) 6-0, 6-2
2. Thomson (SC) def. Graham (The Citadel) 6-3, 6-0
3. Jordan (SC) def. Nawabi (The Citadel) 6-1, 6-0
4. Brown (SC) def. Jack Pyritz (The Citadel) 6-0, 6-1
5. Pelletier (SC) def. Bencedic (The Citadel) 6-3, 7-6
6. Beasley (SC) def. Quinn (The Citadel 6-2, 6-2

QUOTABLES FROM ASSISTANT COACH MURRAY
"I think the guys competed well overall. Obviously, the match we played there were a little bit of nerves and pressure, but as that first match went on, the guys started to settle in. This was a great experience for our guys because they got to play what is going to be a top-10 team and see an example of how to carry themselves both on and off the court. I'm happy with the performance overall, but at the same time we still have a lot of work to do and a long season left."

QUOTABLES FROM COACH KRIESE
"They were a better tennis team today and their guys competed very hard all the way through. That was great because our guys were able to see the standard that we need to hold ourselves to each and every day. I would play these matches 30 days in a row and take the losses just because of the level of intensity we saw. Every point today was tough and hard-fought. (South Carolina) has a great team. I have no problems with the way we competed today and we're going to continue to play competition like this because the guys see what the standard is and we keep moving forward a little bit at a time. I'm very excited about the future of this program because we have a great culture around this program. We just have to keep getting better."

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs are scheduled to play USC Upstate and UNC Charlotte on Sunday, Dec. 12 in Columbia depending on the weather. The match with the Spartans is slated to get underway at 11 a.m. with the match versus the 49ers scheduled for 3 p.m. Any changes to the schedule will be announced on CitadelSpots.com and social media.

JOIN THE CITADEL BRIGADIER FOUNDATION
Membership in The Citadel Brigadier Foundation is open to alumni and friends of The Citadel who are interested in supporting Bulldog athletics. By joining, you provide annual charitable contributions that fund scholarships for cadet-student-athletes. Supporters interested in joining TCBF or for more information, please click HERE.

FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information and score updates on The Citadel men's tennis team, please visit CitadelSports.com and follow @CitadelMten on Twitter and @CitadelSports on Twitter and Instagram.
 
Print Friendly Version

Sponsors