#2 Vols Trounce #13 South Carolina, 4-2 to Advance to ITA Indoor National Championship Semifinals

Saturday, February 19

Seattle, WA

3 PM

University of Tennessee

South Carolina

Photo by: Ben Gleason/Tennessee Athletics

#2 Vols Trounce #13 South Carolina, 4-2 to Advance to ITA Indoor National Championship Semifinals

February 19, 2022 | Men's Tennis

Box Score

SEATTLE – The No. 2 Tennessee men's tennis team defeated 13^th-ranked South Carolina, 4-2 Saturday to advance to the semifinal round of the ITA Indoor National Championships in Seattle.

The Vols (10-1) clinched the match when senior #100 Emile Hudd won a three-set battle over South Carolina's #97 Connor Thomson, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Hudd earned a big break to go up 2-0 in the third set, before earning a match-sealing break and win set three, 6-4.

"I thought we were resilient," head coach Chris Woodruff said. "I can't say we played well consistently throughout the match, but we showed signs of playing well. We played well when we needed to. We're a program that fights and we expect to be in these kinds of positions. South Carolina battled us and we knew going into the match it was going to be a tough one."

For the second consecutive day, Tennessee took the doubles point, with a 6-1 win by Pat Harper and Adam Walton on court two over the 55^th-ranked pairing of Jake Beasley and Toby Samuel. That preceded a 6-3 victory on court three by Johannus Monday and Mark Wallner to give the Vols the early 1-0 advantage. Leading 5-1, Harper and Walton were down 0-40 on a Gamecock service game before fighting back for the break and win.

The doubles tandem of Wallner and Monday has earned a doubles win in each of Tennessee's two Seattle wins this week, moving to 3-0 as a pairing this season.

"They've had good energy," Woodruff said. "They've been going for their shots, executing the game plan, taking care of simple shots and playing within their skillset. Obviously, we've talked about when you get to a tournament like this, you're not going to lose the doubles point and consistently do well."

In singles action, South Carolina (10-2) claimed five first sets, with freshman #114 Shunsuke Mitsui winning his first set on court five.

Tennessee's first singles win came on court two, as #10 Monday battled back from dropping the opening set by taking a 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 win over Toby Samuel. Trailing 1-3 in set two, Monday decisively won 11 of the next 12 games to earn a key victory for the Big Orange.

Junior #122 Angel Diaz was the next Vol to claim a singles victory, as he went three sets with Raphael Lambling and won 6-7(5), 6-0, 6-4, taking 12 of the final 16 games after Lambling won the first-set tiebreak.

Hudd's clinch came on court three, battling back to take the final two sets and send the Vols to the ITA Indoor semifinals.

#21 Walton was on his way to completing a comeback against #14 Daniel Rodrigues on court one, leading 4-1 in the third set before the match was clinched.

ON TO THE SEMIFINALS
The win over the Gamecocks sends Tennessee to the semifinal round of the ITA Indoor National Championships for the first time since 2011.

UP NEXT
The Vols will face the winner of the Baylor vs. Kentucky match Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET.

"We have to play smart and play tough," Woodruff said. "We know both of these teams. One is a formidable indoor opponent that we've played several times. We just have to recover and take care of business. It's not so much about putting emphasis on the school we're playing. We just have to focus on ourselves."

RESULTS
Doubles

1. #13 Shunsuke Mitsui/Emile Hudd (UT) vs. #7 Daniel Rodrigues/Connor Thomson (SC) 5-4, unfinished
2. Adam Walton/Pat Harper (UT) def. #55 Jake Beasley/Toby Samuel (SC) 6-1
3. Mark Wallner/Johannus Monday (UT) def. James Story/Raphael Lambling (SC) 6-3

Order of Finish: (2,3)

Singles

1. #21 Adam Walton (UT) vs. #14 Daniel Rodrigues (SC) 6-7(2), 6-3, 4-1, unfinished
2. #10 Johannus Monday (UT) def. Toby Samuel (SC) 5-7, 6-3, 6-1
3. #100 Emile Hudd (UT) def. #97 Connor Thomson (SC) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
4. #122 Angel Diaz (UT) def. Raphael Lambling (SC) 6-7(5), 6-0, 6-4
5. James Story (SC) def. #114 Shunsuke Mitsui (UT) 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-3
6. Jake Beasley (SC) def. #78 Mark Wallner (UT) 7-6(2), 6-0

Order of Finish: (6, 2, 5, 4, 3)