Knoxville, Tenn. – South Carolina men’s tennis will compete in the NCAA Round of 16 for the third consecutive year this Saturday. The No. 8-ranked Gamecocks will travel to Knoxville, Tenn., to take on the No. 9-ranked Tennessee Volunteers for the opportunity to advance to Orlando for the Round of 8.
Saturday’s match will take place at Barksdale Stadium and will begin at 3:00 p.m. Gates will open one hour prior to first serve and a clear bag policy will be in effect. Free spectator parking will be available in the G-17 parking garage off Terrace and Lake Ave. Ticket sales and additional fan information can be found on the Tournament Central webpage.
Fans not in attendance can view live streaming here and follow along with live stats here. Cracked Racquets will also be providing broadcast coverage of all Super Regional matches on their YouTube channel.
Gamecock Notables
- South Carolina, the tournament’s No. 9 seed, is coming off a pair of strong first and second round wins with a 4-0 shutout of South Carolina State and a 4-1 romp of No. 18 Florida State at home.
- The Gamecocks are 21-6 overall this season, including seven wins over top-20 teams with four of them in the top-10. Some of South Carolina’s most notable wins this season were a road win over then-No. 5 Kentucky and a win at home over then-No. 4 Ohio State.
- The team’s win over Ohio State propelled them up to the highest ranking in program history at No. 2. The Gamecocks have spent the entirety of the season ranked in the top-10 and currently sit at No. 8 in the nation.
- South Carolina has four players in the ITA Singles Rankings – No. 10 Toby Samuel, No. 16 Connor Thomson, No. 102 Casey Hoole, No. 116 James Story, and No. 122 Raphael Lambling.
- Samuel, Thomson, and Story were all recently named to the All-SEC Teams with Samuel and Thomson on the First Team and Story on the Second Team.
- Samuel has led the Gamecocks in singles this season from the top spot in the lineup where he is 19-4. He has climbed throughout the rankings this season, peaking at a new career-high of No. 3. He is coming off a 6-1, 6-1 singles win over the nation’s No. 7 player.
- Thomson had been a consistent No. 2 for the team. He is 32-6 overall and has a 19-4 mark in dual play.
- Story has been consistent in the middle of the lineup for the Gamecocks. He is 14-5 in dual play with a 3-2 mark at the No. 3 position and an 11-3 mark at the No. 4 position.
- South Carolina also has two ranked doubles pairs –…