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TULSA, Okla. – ·¬ÇÑÊÓƵ men’s tennis opened play at the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla., with freshman Jelani Sarr scoring a pair of victories in prequalifying at LaFortune Park on Saturday afternoon.

Sophomore Lucas da Silva was the first on court for ·¬ÇÑÊÓƵ, facing Oklahoma’s Mark Mandlik. A tough tiebreak loss in the first set put da Silva on the back foot, and Mandlik powered to a 7-6 (4), 6-1 victory.

Sarr righted the ship for the Gamecocks, dominating his first-set tiebreak against Robin Parts of San Diego State before cruising in the second set for a 7-6 (2), 6-2 win. In the second round, he quickly dispatched Arkansas’ Foster Rogers 6-3, 6-1 to set up a showdown with Luis Carlos Alvarez Valdes of Grand Canyon on Sunday.

Senior Carter Morgan closed out the day with a tough three-set loss. He handled Hugo Salmeron of Kennesaw State in the first set 6-3, but saw the Spaniard fight back to take the 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory.

In pre-qualifying consolation action on Sunday, Morgan will face Columbia’s Sachin Palta, and da Silva will take on Dante Carlos Teramo of UT-Arlington.

Live streaming for pre-qualifying (Sept. 30-Oct. 1) and qualifying (Oct. 2-3) rounds will be available . The main draw (Oct. 4-8) will be broadcast by Cracked Racquets and is available on its .

For all the latest ·¬ÇÑÊÓƵ men’s tennis information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockMTennis).

ITA All-American Championships Results
Prequalifying Round 1
Mark Mandlik (Okla.) def. Lucas da Silva (SC) 7-6 (4), 6-1
Jelani Sarr (SC) def. Robin Parts (SDSU) 7-6 (2), 6-2
Hugo Salmeron (KSU) def. Carter Morgan (SC) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4

Prequalifying Round 2
Jelani Sarr (SC) def. Foster Rogers (ARK) 6-3, 6-1