April 14, 2004

COLUMBIA, S.C. –

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SCOUTING REPORT
South Carolina (14-10, 3-6 Southeastern Conference) enters the final weekend of regular season and conference play, traveling Fayetteville to face the 27th-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks at 2:30 p.m. (CT) on Friday, April 16 and ending the regular season with a 1 p.m. (CT) match in Baton Rouge at No. 14 LSU on Sunday, April 18. Next weekend the Gamecocks will travel to Nashville, Tenn., for the SEC Tournament.

GAMECOCKS FALL TO GEORGIA TECH, No. 8 FLORIDA
South Carolina fell twice last week, dropping a tough 4-3 decision to Georgia Tech in their home regular season finale last Thursday. The Gamecocks then fell to No. 8 Florida 5-2 in Gainesville on Sunday.

AT No. 27 ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS
Arkansas enters Friday’s match with a 13-7 record and is tied with South Carolina for eighth in the conference with a 3-6 record. The Razorbacks then host Florida Sunday at 1 p.m. (CT). Carolina leads the all-time series with Arkansas, 9-7 and have recorded wins in the past two meetings. Carolina came away with a 4-2 victory against the 20th-ranked Razorbacks on March 9, 2003 in Columbia. The last time Carolina fell to Arkansas was a tough 4-3 loss on March 10, 2002 in Fayetteville. Carolina avenged that loss later in the season with a 4-2 victory over Arkansas in the SEC Tournament.

AT No. 14 LSU TIGERS
LSU enters this weekend’s play with a 16-4 record, 6-3 in the SEC. The No. 14 Tigers host No. 9 Florida Friday afternoon in Baton Rouge at 4 p.m. (CT) before taking on Carolina Sunday. LSU leads the all-time series with USC 17-6 but Carolina has won the past three meetings. USC edged out the 23rd-ranked Tigers 4-3 on March 7, 2003 in Columbia. The last time LSU notched a win over Carolina was in Baton Rouge on March 26, 2000 when the Tigers were ranked 12th and won 7-0. The match against the Tigers will close out regular season play for both teams.

SEC TIES
Heading into this weekend’s play, South Carolina is currently tied for eighth overall in the Southeastern Conference with Arkansas and Auburn. Auburn edged out the Gamecocks 4-3 in Columbia on March 21 while Arkansas topped Auburn 5-2 earlier. Carolina faces Arkansas Friday at 2 p.m. (CT) in Fayetteville.

Unofficially, if the regular season were to end today, the Gamecocks would face Vanderbilt in the first round with the winner advancing to face Georgia. However, four teams (Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and LSU) are currently tied for second place, two teams (Alabama and Mississippi State) are tied for 11th place and three teams (Arkansas, Auburn and South Carolina) are tied for eighth.

With one full weekend still left to play, however, everything is still up in the air. As of right now, South Carolina could play one of eight teams in the first round of the SEC Tournament, depending on the outcome of this weekend’s play.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
It is no surprise that in collegiate tennis, the doubles point is one of the most important points to win. Often, the winner of the doubles point is the winner of the match. In the 2004 season, the Gamecocks have posted a 13-2 record when taking a 1-0 lead in the match by winning the doubles point.

CAROLINA VAULTS BACK INTO THE POLLS
After falling out of the national rankings on March 23, USC has vaulted back into the national polls. After being ranked 56th on March 30, two wins over No. 3 Ole Miss and No. 31 Mississippi State aided Carolina’s jump 20 spots up to 36th. Despite two losses this past week, Carolina stayed in the top 40, coming in at 40th in the April 13 poll.

GAMECOCKS TAKE DOWN No. 3
The Gamecocks celebrated April 2 as Carolina, then-ranked 56th, notched a decisive 4-1 victory over third-ranked Ole Miss. The loss gave the Rebels their first conference loss of the 2004 season and their first loss since February 7.