RALEIGH, NC (WTKR)- The Old Dominion men's tennis team's stay in the 2024 NCAA Tournament was short-lived.
The Monarchs fell to South Carolina, 4-1, Friday afternoon in the first round of the tournament on the campus of NC State. ODU wrapped up its campaign with a 20-8 record.
"If you were there, you would know this was not a 4-1 match," Old Dominion head coach Dominik Mueller said in a social media post. "If we extend this match by 15 or 20 minutes, then I think it could be last match on 4-3."
After the Gamecocks captured the doubles point, South Carolina picked up three singles victories to end the action before others could be completed. Aryan Saleh scored the lone point for the Monarchs with a 6-0, 6-3 win over South Carolina's Carter Morgan.
"At the end of the day, these guys made this program better," Mueller said of his players. "We got our national ranking better by 20 spots, we defended our title, we were very competitive in the first round."
Sports
Viktorovitch a constant for ODU women's tennis through ups and downs
Mueller's team captured back-to-back Sun Belt championships, the first consecutive league titles in the program's history.
The Old Dominion women are also in Raleigh and will face South Carolina Saturday morning at 11:00 AM in first round action.
