Columbia, S.C. – No. 2 South Carolina men’s tennis will host Louisville, LSU, and rival Clemson for the ITA Kickoff Weekend on Sat., Jan. 27 and Sun., Jan. 29. The top-seeded Gamecocks will take on No. 4 seed Clemson on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. before the second-seeded Cardinals take on the three seed LSU at 1:00 p.m.
Sunday will bring the consolation match at 10:00 a.m. and the championships match at 1:00 p.m. The winner of the weekend will advance to the ITA Indoor National Championships in New York, New York, Feb. 16-19.
All matches will be played at the Carolina Indoor Tennis Center located at 523 Superior St. Admission and parking are free and matches are open to the public. Those not in attendance can watch the matches live here and view live stats here.
Broadcast coverage of South Carolina’s match versus Clemson and the regional final match will be provided by Cracked Racquets on ESPN+. The full list of Cracked Racquets coverage is available here.
This year marks the third consecutive season that South Carolina has been chosen to host Kickoff Weekend. The event is hosted by 15 sites across the country with 60 teams competing for 15 available spots at the ITA Indoor National Championships. The top 15 teams in the rankings at the end of the previous season are designated as hosts and teams at each site are selected via a summer draft.
South Carolina will also be hosting a food drive benefitting the Gamecock Pantry that provides food for free to members of the Carolina community in need. A list of items currently in need by the Gamecock Pantry is listed at the bottom of the page.
Gamecock Notables
- South Carolina is ranked No. 2 in the nation going into the ITA Kickoff Weekend. The No. 2 ranking ties for highest ranking in program history with the team achieving the same ranking for one week of the 2023 season. The Gamecocks started the season ranked No. 5 in the preseason poll.
- South Carolina kickoff off the season by taking down then-No. 1 Virginia in Charlottesville in a comeback after dropping the doubles point. Freshman Sean Daryabeigi earned the clinch in a three-setter.
- Senior Toby Samuel has rejoined the team after taking the fall semester off. The Bournemouth, England, native won his first collegiate singles match since the 2023 NCAA Tournament quarterfinals over No. 22 Chris Rodesch of Virginia in a three-set comeback.
- 92 Casey Hoole is 13-9 on the season and earned a three-set win over Virginia’s Dylan Dietrich at the No. 2…