Samuel Tops Carolina Region Singles Rankings
Columbia, S.C. – The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) released its annual regional rankings on Friday with South Carolina’s men’s tennis senior Toby Samuel topping the singles rankings. He was joined in the singles rankings by junior Casey Hoole at No. 11 and fellow senior James Story at No. 12. The trio of Gamecocks also accounted for two entries in the regional doubles rankings with Samuel and Hoole coming in at No. 3 and Samuel and Story coming in at No. 9.
The team ended the season ranking No. 15 in the nation and No. 3 in the region, following only Wake Forest and Duke. Overall, the South Carolina men’s tennis team went 19-15 this season with a 14-13 record during regular season matches. The team made a deep run in the post-season, becoming the lowest seed to ever make the SEC Tournament finals as the No. 11 seed and upsetting host NC State to advance to the Super Regionals of the NCAA Tournament.
In singles, Samuel, a recently-named All-American, led the team with a 21-6 overall record from the top of the lineup. Of his 21 wins, 14 of them came over ranked opponents with six in the top-50. He also became the first player in program history to go perfect in SEC play with a 10-0 record against conference opponents.
Hoole, who missed singles action for the majority of the latter half of the season due to injury, retained his spot in the rankings with his 19-21 singles record. Prior to his injury, Hoole claimed four wins over nationally ranked opponents and won six matches from the No. 2 spot in the lineup.
Story made his way into the ITA national singles rankings late in the season, leading to his No. 12 ranking in the region. The senior posted a 12-12 singles record with eight wins from the No. 2 spot in the lineup and 4 from the No. 3 position. He claimed three ranked wins with his highest over then-No. 33 Shunsuke Mitsui of Tennessee in straight sets.
In the doubles rankings, Samuel and Hoole finished third in the region and ranked as high as No. 9 in the nation during the regular season. The pair went 9-6 overall and were selected to represent the program at the NCAA Doubles Tournament in Stillwater, Okla.
Samuel and Story joined up together late in the season and went 4-3 during their time together. The duo won all four of their matches from the top of the doubles lineup and tallied a pair of ranked victories with one over a top-5 opponent.
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ITA Carolina Region Rankings
3 – Team
1 – Toby Samuel (singles)
11 – Casey Hoole (singles)
12 – James Story (singles)
3 – Toby Samuel and Casey Hoole (doubles)
9 – Toby Samuel and James Story (doubles)
