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South Carolina Set for Last SEC Road Matches
Men's Tennis  . 

South Carolina Set for Last SEC Road Matches

COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 10 South Carolina men’s tennis (11-6, 6-3 SEC) will play its final road matches of the season this weekend. The Gamecocks will first face No. 22 Kentucky (14-5, 4-4 SEC) on Fri., April 2, at 5 p.m. in Lexington, then will travel to Nashville to take on Vanderbilt (6-11, 0-8 SEC) on Sun., April 4, at 1 p.m. 
 
Gamecock Notables

  • The Gamecocks held steady at No. 10 in the Oracle/ITA Rankings this week and moved up to No. 14 in the USTA College Tennis Top 25.
  • Sophomore Daniel Rodrigues moved up to No. 1 in the ITA singles rankings, becoming the first Gamecock to earn a No. 1 ranking in program history.
  • No. 40 Connor Thomson also moved up in the singles rankings, making a jump of 30 spots to achieve the highest ranking of his career.
  • South Carolina has a 5-4 record on the road this spring, including a 2-2 mark in SEC matches.
  • No. 1 Rodrigues and No. 70 Toby Samuel both earned their 20th singles wins of the season last weekend with Samuel remaining undefeated in SEC play.
  • The Nos. 1, 3 and 4 spots have earned the most SEC singles points.
  • The Gamecocks are 14-10 against ranked singles opponents with half of those wins earned by Rodrigues.

 
The Kentucky Series

  • When the SEC rivals last met in 2019, the Gamecocks swept the Wildcats 7-0 at the Carolina Tennis Center.
  • Under head coach Josh Goffi, South Carolina is 4-5 against Kentucky.
  • Kentucky last hosted South Carolina on Mar. 18, 2018, defeating the Gamecocks 4-2.

 
Scouting the Wildcats

  • The Wildcats are 14-5 overall and are undefeated at home this season. They are also 4-4 in SEC play. 
  • Kentucky is on a two-match losing streak, suffering losses to both then-No. 13 Georgia and then-No. 3 Tennessee.
  • South Carolina will be Kentucky’s sixth ranked opponent this spring, and Kentucky is 1-4 against those teams.
  • Head coach Cedric Kauffmann, in his ninth season, leads eight returners and four freshmen on the Wildcats’ roster.

 
The Vanderbilt Series

  • South Carolina is 18-13 all time against Vanderbilt, including a 6-8 record in away matches and a 5-4 record under head coach Josh Goffi.
  • When the teams last met in Nashville on Mar. 16, 2018, Vanderbilt topped South Carolina 4-2.
  • In the last meeting in 2019, the then-No. 32 Gamecocks defeated the then-No. 28 Commodores 6-1 at home.

 
Scouting the Commodores

  • The Commodores are 6-11 overall, including a 6-4 record at home and an 0-8 record in SEC play.
  • Ahead of Sunday’s match against South Carolina, Vanderbilt will face No. 1 Florida.
  • The Commodores boast seven returners and two freshmen, and are led by head coach Ian Duvenhage, who is in his 16th season.

 
Rankings Roundup
No. 10 South Carolina
Singles
No. 1 Daniel Rodrigues
No. 40 Connor Thomson
No. 68 Raphael Lambling
No. 70 Toby Samuel
 
Doubles
No. 36 Daniel Rodrigues / Connor Thomson
No. 80 Raphael Lambling / Phillip Jordan
 
No. 22 Kentucky
Singles
No. 7 Liam Draxl
No. 31 Gabriel Diallo
No. 60 Millen Hurrion
No. 97 Joshua Lapadat
 
Doubles
No. 20 Cesar Bourgois / Gabriel Diallo
 
Vanderbilt
No. 98 George Harwell
 
For men’s tennis updates, continue to check back with GamecocksOnline.com or follow the team on social media (@GamecockMTennis).
 
 

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