Columbia, S.C. – No. 16 South Carolina men’s tennis will open the SEC season at home this weekend with matches against No. 25 LSU and No. 12 Texas A&M. The Gamecocks will face the Tigers on Fri., Match 1 at 3:00 p.m. and the Aggies on Sun., March 3 at noon.
The match between South Carolina and LSU will take place at the Carolina Indoor Tennis Center located at 523 Superior Street. Doors will open one hour prior to the start of the match.
The match between South Carolina and Texas A&M will take place at the Carolina Tennis Center located at 1318 Heyward Street. Spectator parking will be available at the Indoor Tennis Center and at meters surrounding the athletic village.
Those not in attendance can view live streaming versus LSU here with live stats here. For the match versus Texas A&M, live streaming will be available here with live stats here.
Gamecock Notables
- South Carolina enters the SEC season ranked No. 16 in the country. The team is coming off of a pair of 7-0 sweeps over the Citadel and has a 6-5 record on the season.
- The Gamecocks have three players in the ITA Singles Rankings – No. 71 Toby Samuel, No. 106 Casesy Hoole, and No. 120 Jelani Sarr.
- In the doubles rankings, Hoole and Samuel come in at No. 9 in the country after recording wins over then-Nos. 14 and 5 at the ITA Indoor Championships in New York.
- South Carolina has already faced both LSU and Texas A&M this season with the Gamecocks defeating the Tigers 4-1 at home in January and falling to the Aggies 1-4 at the ITA Indoor Championships.
Scouting the Tigers
- LSU is 10-1 this season with their lone loss coming at the hands of the Gamecocks during the second round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Columbia. The Tigers are 1-1 when playing on the road this season.
- George Stoupe is the lone Tiger in the ITA Singles Rankings, coming in at No. 122. Stoupe is 11-5 overall this season and 5-2 in dual play.
- Stefan Latinovic has primarily played at the top of the singles lineup for the Tigers where he is 6-1. He is 12-9 overall.
- Overall, LSU is 47-16 in dual singles matches.
- The Tigers have also had doubles success this season with a 19-5 dual doubles record. Latinovic has spent all season at the top of the doubles lineup, pairing with Chen Dong for a 3-1 record and with Aleski Lofman, also for a 3-1 record.
Series History
- LSU leads the all-time series 29-20 but South Carolina has won each of the last ten meetings.
- The two teams first faced in 1973 in Baton Rouge with LSU winning…