Charlottesville, Va. – No. 16 South Carolina men’s tennis will take on No. 2 Virginia in the NCAA Super Regionals on Friday afternoon. The dual will begin at 4:00 p.m. at the Boar’s Head Resort.
South Carolina is in its fourth consecutive Round of 16 at the NCAA Tournament and looks to repeat the success of last season in which the team won a Super Regional on the road to advance to the quarterfinals.
Admission to the match will be free with gates opening one hour prior to first serve. For those not in attendance, live stats will be available here with live streaming here. The match will also be broadcast on the Cracked Racquets CrossCourt Cast free on YouTube.
Gamecock Notables
- South Carolina men’s tennis is 19-14 overall on the season and went 4-8 in conference play. The team is 5-4 when playing on the road and 6-3 when playing at neutral sites.
- The Gamecocks have found success in the postseason, having become the lowest seed to ever advance to the SEC Tournament title match and upsetting host NC State at the Raleigh regional during the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
- The Gamecocks are led this season by No. 6 Toby Samuel. The senior is 21-5 overall this season, all from the top of the lineup, 19 of his last 19 matches.
- Samuel is followed in the ITA Singles Rankings by No. 97 James Story. Story is 12-11 overall this season and made his jump up into the rankings following a strong performance at the SEC Tournament where he went 3-1 in singles with two of his wins over top-50 opponents.
- Also in the singles rankings is No. 101 Casey Hoole. Hoole is 19-20 overall this season and has seen limited singles action recently due to ongoing injury. He made his return to the singles lineup during the second round of the NCAA Tournament against NC State but dropped his match to No. 74 Braden Shick.
- Samuel and Hoole pair up together as the nation’s No. 20 doubles team. The pair holds a 9-5 record and has been ranked as high as No. 9 in the country this season.
- Samuel and Story also hold a spot in the doubles rankings together. The duo is 4-2 with a pair of top-15 ranked wins under their belt.
Scouting the Cavaliers
- Virginia is the reigning back-to-back national champions and currently has four players in the singles rankings and a top-5 doubles pair. The team is currently ranked No. 2 in the country but is the tournament’s No. 3 seed.
- In the singles rankings, Chris Rodesch leads the team at No. 3, followed by Inaki Montes de la…