News release from Texas A&M Athletics:
The No. 18 Texas A&M men’s tennis team nabbed its second-straight SEC road victory with 4-3 upset of the No. 13 South Carolina Gamecocks at the Carolina Tennis Center Sunday afternoon.
Senior Togan Tokac clinched the match for the Maroon & White in a thrilling three-set battle. After splitting the first two sets, including a first-set tiebreaker, the native of Istanbul, Turkey, put away Max Stenzer on court 5, 7-6(3), 1-6, 6-3.
The Aggies (11-5, 4-2 SEC) came out swinging with two 6-1 doubles victories to gain the early advantage. Junior Lathan Skrobarcek and sophomore Alex Frusina started the day off quickly with a take-down of Charlie Swaine and Atakan Karahan on court 3. The No. 29 duo of Tokac and Theo Papamalamis secured the doubles point after topping No. 10 Licas da Silva and Paul Barbier Gazeu on court 1.
No. 86 Frusina kept the momentum rolling over into singles after topping No. 40 Sean Daryabeigi in straight sets on court 2, 6-4, 6-2. The Gamecocks (10-3, 3-2 SEC) would go on to grab a 3-2 advantage after taking three straight courts.
Freshman Markus Molder evened things up at 3-all after taking a back-and-forth second set tiebreaker over Atakan Karahan, 6-3, 7-6(5). With all eyes on him, Tokac was able to clinch the match in his third set.
The Aggies stay on the road, facing Texas at the Texas Tennis Center in the Cotton Holdings Lone Star Showdown Friday March 13 at 6 p.m.
