April 29, 2014
COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 29 South Carolina earned its third-straight at-large bid into the NCAA Men’s Tennis Tournament, marking the 22nd time the Gamecock will play in the event in school history. The Gamecocks (15-13) will face No. 52 George Washington in the first round on Sat., May 10, at 9 a.m. in Chapel Hill, N.C. The winner will advance to play the winner of the match between host North Carolina, the national No. 7 seed, and South Carolina State on Sun., May 11, at 1 p.m.
South Carolina head coach Josh Goffi led the Gamecocks on a late-season rally, winning eight of their last 12 matches. The Gamecocks advanced to the SEC Tournament quarterfinals for the second-straight season after closing the regular season with a 4-1 victory at Vanderbilt that essentially clinched their spot in the NCAA Tournament.
George Washington (17-6) earned the Atlantic 10 Conference’s automatic bid by winning the tournament title, and the Colonials dominated the league’s postseason awards. Junior Francisco Dias captured A-10 Most Outstanding Performer honors, while three teammates – senior Nikita Fomin, sophomore Danil Zelenkov and freshman Julius Tverijonas – joined him with First-Team All-Conference honors.
Tickets for the Chapel Hill Regional are $5, and children six and under get in free. Gates will open one hour prior to play on Saturday and Sunday.
