Orlando, Fla. – No. 8 South Carolina men’s tennis will compete in the NCAA Quarterfinals for the first time since 1989 on Thursday. The Gamecocks will take on the No. 1 overall seed and No. 1 ranked Texas Longhorns for the opportunity to advance to the semifinal match.
Thursday’s match will take place on the #1-6 collegiate courts at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida, beginning at 5:00 p.m. Additional information for spectators such as ticket and parking information can be found on the Tournament Central webpage.
Fans watching from home can view live streaming via PlaySight here and can follow along with live stats here. Cracked Racquets will also be providing broadcast coverage on all quarterfinal matches on their YouTube channel.
Gamecock Notables
- South Carolina, the tournament’s No. 9 seed, made their way to the final site after defeating South Carolina State and No. 18 Florida State at home and taking down No. 8 seed Tennessee in Knoxville.
- The Gamecocks are 22-6 overall this season, including eight wins over top-20 teams with five of them in the top-10. South 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 career-high of No. 3. During the second round of tournament play, Samuel defeated the nation’s No. 7 player 6-1, 6-1, and was toe-to-toe in a third set with the nation’s No. 5 player from Tennessee when play was suspended.
- Thomson has been South Carolina’s primary No. 2 singles player this season. He is 33-6 overall and has a 20-4 mark in dual play. He clinched each of South Carolina’s last two matches, both of them in three set come-from-behind victories.
- Story has been consistent in the middle of the lineup for the…