Columbia, S.C. – No. 8 South Carolina men’s tennis earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships for the 28th time in program history and the ninth time under head coach Josh Goffi. South Carolina will be hosting the first and second round matches for the third consecutive year. The Gamecocks (19-6, 8-4 SEC) will play South Carolina State (10-9, 5-0 MEAC) in the first round on Fri., May 5, at 2 p.m. at the Carolina Tennis Center. The other first-round match in Columbia will feature Baylor and Florida State playing at 11 a.m.
The ninth-seeded Gamecocks will enter their sixth straight NCAA Tournament this weekend after falling in the Round of 16 during the past two years of competition. South Carolina has four nationally ranked players in singles, including No. 9 Toby Samuel, No. 14 Connor Thomson, No. 99 Casey Hoole, and No. 115 Raphael Lambling. Samuel and Thomson were recently announced as All-SEC First Team members while junior James Story was announced as an All-SEC Second Team member.
The Gamecock squad holds eight top-25 wins this season with four in the top-10 including road wins at then-No. 5 Kentucky and then-No. 9 Wake Forest, a neutral site win over then-No. 10 Baylor, and a win at home over then-No. 4 Ohio State that propelled the Gamecocks to their highest team ranking in program history at No. 2. The No. 9 overall seed is the highest team tournament seeding in program history. The previous team-high was the No. 10 seed at the 2022 edition of the tournament.
The Gamecocks are one of ten SEC teams to make the 2023 NCAA Championship field, including five that will host the opening rounds of the event. Joining South Carolina in earning a top-16 seed in the event are fourth-seeded Kentucky, sixth-seeded Georgia, eighth-seeded Tennessee, and 15th-seeded Mississippi State. Ole Miss, Auburn, Florida, LSU, and Texas A&M are also in the 64-team field.
Tickets for the first and second rounds at the Carolina Tennis Center will be sold at the door. Tickets sales will be cash only and will be $5 for general admission of $3 for students with a valid university ID or youth 17 years of age and under.
For all the latest South Carolina men’s tennis information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockMTennis).
Schedule
Friday, May 5
11:00 – Baylor vs. Florida State
2:00 – South Carolina vs. South Carolina State
Saturday, May 6
2:00 – Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2