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Men’s Tennis Prepped to Take On No. 32 Ole Miss
Men's Tennis  . 

Men’s Tennis Prepped to Take On No. 32 Ole Miss

Oxford, Miss. – No. 6 South Carolina men’s tennis will travel to Oxford, Mississippi, to take on No. 32 Ole Miss at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center on Friday. The match will begin at 4:00 p.m. ET with live stats and streaming available here.

Gamecock Notables

  • South Carolina is 16-3 on the season with a 5-2 mark in SEC play. The Gamecocks are currently ranked No. 6 in the ITA Team Rankings and have six wins over top-20 teams this season including two in the top-5.
  • The Gamecocks have four players in the ITA Singles Rankings – No. 3 Toby Samuel, No. 8 Connor Thomson, No. 82 Casey Hoole, and No. 111 Raphael Lambling.
  • The No. 3 ranking is a new career-high for Samuel who currently has a 15-3 record in dual play and 20-4 record overall. He is 5-2 in SEC play and has earned all of his wins from the No. 1 position.
  • 8 Thomson enters the weekend on a three-match win streak and with a 57-5 overall record. He is 14-3 in dual play and 5-1 against SEC opponents.
  • 83 Hoole is 24-11 on the season with a 9-6 record in dual play with a 3-1 mark when playing at the No. 4 position and 6-5 mark at the No. 5 position.
  • In the ITA Doubles Rankings, Samuel and Thomson continue to hold onto the No. 1 ranking. The duo is 19-1 overall this season with a 12-1 record in dual play, all from the top spot in the lineup. They are a perfect 7-0 in SEC play and are on a ten-match win streak together.
  • Also in the doubles rankings are No. 43 Jake Beasley and James Story. The duo primarily plays in the No. 2 doubles spot and have an overall record of 21-8 this season. They are 13-6 in dual play with a 12-5 mark from the No. 2 position.

Scouting the Rebels

  • Ole Miss currently sits at No. 32 in the ITA Team Rankings and has been ranked as high as No. 30 this season. They are 13-5 overall and 3-3 in conference play. The team is 10-2 when playing on their home courts in Oxford.
  • Senior Nikola Slavic has held down the top spot in the singles lineup for the Rebels this season where he is 12-3. Slavic is ranked No. 66 by the ITA and has a 4-1 record against SEC opponents.
  • At the No. 2 position for the Rebels this season is junior John Hallquist Lithen who is 12-2 in dual play. He has a 3-1 record against SEC foes.
  • In the doubles rankings, Slavic pairs with senior Lukas Engelhardt to come in at No. 62. The duo primarily plays at the No. 1 position where they are 9-3 and 2-0 in SEC play.

The Ole Miss Series

  • Ole Miss leads the all-time series 26-13 and holds the longest win streak of the series with 11 wins between 2006-2013.
  • South Carolina has won five of the last six matchups including each of the last three.
  • The first match of the series was played in Oxford with South Carolina coming out on top 8-1 on March 20, 1975.
  • When playing at Ole Miss, South Carolina is 4-11 but won the two most recent matchups 5-2 in 2021 and 4-3 in 2017.

For all the latest South Carolina men’s tennis information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockMTennis).

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