Columbia, S.C. – No. 6 South Carolina men’s tennis will begin the SEC season on the road this year, traveling to take on No. 5 Kentucky on Thursday before making a stop in Nashville to take on Vanderbilt on Saturday.
The SEC men’s tennis season will begin on Thursday with the two highest-ranked teams in the league battling it out in Lexington. The fifth-ranked Wildcats will host the sixth-ranked Gamecocks in a top-10 matchup on Thursday, March 2, at 5 p.m. Live streaming for the match will be available here with live stats available here.
Following Thursday’s match, South Carolina will travel to Nashville, Tenn., where they will take on the Commodores on Saturday, March 4, at noon ET. Live streaming for the match will be available here with live stats available here.
Gamecock Notables
- The Gamecocks have a 10-1 record on the season and are coming off of an appearance at the ITA Indoor Championships where they suffered a loss to No. 13 Georgia but picked up wins over No. 10 Baylor and No. 12 North Carolina.
- The team is ranked No. 6 in the latest ITA team rankings, tying for highest in-season ranking in program history. They have been ranked No. 6 in each of the last two rankings have have been in the top-10 for the last 19 ranking releases, dating back to February 23, 2022.
- South Carolina has been lead this season by junior Toby Samuel. Samuel is 9-1 from the top spot in the singles lineup and ranked No. 6 in the nation. The Bournemouth, England, native was the only player to go a perfect 3-0 from the top spot in both the singles and doubles lineup at the ITA Indoor Championships.
- Samuel is joined in the top-10 of the ITA singles rankings by fellow junior Connor Thomson. Thomson is ranked just behind Samuel at No. 7. The junior is 9-1 in dual play and has an 8-1 record from the No. 2 position. Thomson was an overall record of 22-3 this season with a 7-1 mark over ranked opponents, including a pair of top-10 upsets.
- Also in the ITA singles rankings for the Gamecocks are graduate Raphael Lambling and sophomore Casey Hoole. Lambling is ranked No. 80 with a 7-4 overall record and primarily plays at the No. 3 position. Hoole is ranked No. 90 with a 21-8 overall record and a 6-3 record in dual play, primarily at the No. 5 position.
- In doubles, the Gamecocks are lead by the duo of Samuel and Thomson who recently regained the top spot in the national rankings. The pair is 6-1 in dual play from the No. 1 position and have an overall record of…