Not every story gets a fairytale ending.

Tennessee men’s tennis was swept 4-0 by No. 12 South Carolina on Senior Day at Barksdale Tennis Stadium. The Vols (10-17, 1-13 SEC) now look ahead to the SEC Tournament, where they will be the lowest seed, while the Gamecocks (15-7, 8-6) will finish in the mid-pack of the conference standings.

“Just been kind of the same thing on repeat,” associate head coach Matt Lucas said.

The program, with athletic director Danny White on hand, honored seniors Alejandro Moreno, Ethan Muza and Boruch Skierkier, bringing their family and friends on court prior to the start of the match.

Moreno, paired with Piotr Siekanowicz, kicked off the session by securing an early break on Court 1 versus the tandem of Lucas da Silva and Paul Gazeu, the 11th-ranked pair in the country. As they set the tone on one, Muza paired with freshman Woodson McMillin, and the two competed with energy on Court 3 against Charlie Swaine and Gabe Avram.

The Vols, needing a break to stay in the match on Court 3, gave themselves three break points at 3-5 to get back on serve. But the Gamecocks came up with big serves on each of those points to snuff the rally and take the court 6-3.

While the Vols stretched their advantage to 5-4 on Court 1, the Court 2 pairing of Jose Garcia and Shion Itsusaki was dead even against Max Stenzer and Sean Daryabeigi. However, the Gamecocks broke at 4-5 to secure the court, 6-4, giving the visitors the doubles point.

The singles session saw South Carolina sweep the opening set on each court. Particularly painful opening stanza results were at Courts 4 and 5, as both Muza and Itsusaki dropped opening set tiebreakers.

“We lose three tiebreakers, first set at five, second set at three, first set and four, you know?” Lucas said. “You get those first sets, and the match is completely different.”

Moreno struggled in his match, taking a 6-0 loss in the first set. He appeared to be dealing with a foot injury, as the trainer visited him to wrap his ankle at 0-4, 0-15. Despite the nagging ankle, he found his form and pushed back against Daryabeigi in the second set, pushing it to a tiebreaker.

However, he was unable to stay alive, and a shank forehand ended the match as he fell 6(3)-7 to drop the match in straight sets.

Amid his rally, the Vols forced decisive sets on four courts. Skierkier competed for the first time up on Court 2, versus Gazeu. His looping lefty forehand gave fits to the righty and his one-handed backhand, and the Argentine was able to trap his opponent in his backhand corner, well behind the baseline for much of the second set.

On four, Muza dropped an early break in his second set versus Stenzer, but he stayed quite close. At 3-5, he faced four match points against his serve, but the Pittsburgh-native clawed his way back to force a deuce point. At the deciding point, he unleashed a forehand which drew an error wide and let out a primal yell. He then shouted, “I’m not leaving,” as he marched to his bench for the changeover.

“He’s a fighter,” Lucas said. “He gives everything he’s got all the time out there.”

Again, he would fight off a match point at 4-5, and he gave himself a break opportunity on a deciding point. But Stenzer hammered a serve up the tee, and the reply from Muza drifted just long of the baseline to break his resistance and secure the match 7-6(5), 6-4, putting South Carolina ahead 3-0.

“We’re just not quite getting across the line,” Lucas said. “I feel for them, they’re putting it out there, just not going our way.”

The decisive point came on Court 6 for the Gamecocks. Siekanowicz was able to push the match into a third set, but he could not maintain the excellent level he showed in the doubles session alongside Moreno. He struck a backhand into the net to end the match 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 for Avram.

“We’re just, I don’t want to say snakebit because you got to make your own destiny, but all season long, we’ve had matches like this where we’re on the wrong end of it,” Lucas said.

Garcia, Itsusaki and Skierkier, all into a third set, saw their matches abandoned as the visitors clinched a 4-0 victory, and the Vols will head off to College Station in Texas for the SEC Tournament on April 15.