April 14, 2016
COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina men’s tennis wraps up its final week of regular-season play with a pair of SEC road matches at No. 32 Ole Miss and No. 12 Arkansas. The Gamecocks will take on the Rebels Friday, April 15, at 6 p.m., before squaring off with the Razorbacks Sunday at 2 p.m.
The Gamecocks (12-13, 3-7) look to build off a successful home weekend in which they were victorious in two of three matches. Carolina scored a 4-3 victory over No. 59 Auburn on Friday, receiving strong performances from redshirt sophomores Gabriel Friedrich and Harrison O’Keefe in the win. The duo won its doubles contest at No. 1 before taking straight-set wins at No. 1 and No. 3 singles, respectively. Carolina then split a doubleheader Sunday in which it lost a hard-fought match to No. 14 Florida before sweeping South Carolina State, 7-0.
Ole Miss (13-8, 4-6) enters the weekend one slot above the Gamecocks in the SEC standings. The Rebels have won five in a row after a pair of doubleheader sweeps against Alcorn State and Arkansas-Pine Bluff and a 5-2 win at No. 43 Vanderbilt last Sunday. Arkansas (19-5, 7-3) enters the weekend looking to close out one of its most successful seasons in recent memory. Their seven SEC wins this spring are more than the six the program claimed from 2010-2015. The Razorbacks, who travel to No. 6 Georgia Friday, topped No. 43 Vanderbilt, 4-3, last Friday and have won six of their last seven matches.
Quotable
Head Coach Josh Goffi: “We are in the best spot we have been in all year as far as everyone playing well, excited and being together as a team. We are definitely in a really good place, and we are looking forward to taking on two of the top teams in the conference this weekend. We are really excited to head into competition and get our last road trip in prior to coming back here for the SEC Tournament. I think this team is peaking right when we need, so things are panning out.”
Super Sophomores
A pair of redshirt sophomores have overcome injuries over the past calendar year to lead the way for the Gamecocks this spring. Salem, Va., native Harrison O’Keefe was on pace for one of the best freshman seasons in school history last year before an injury cut his season short. He recovered in time to post a solid fall campaign before becoming one of the team’s leaders this spring with a 5-3 SEC mark so far at No. 3 singles and playing at the top of the doubles lineup. Similarly, Brazilian Gabriel Friedrich worked his way back to form following an injury this fall and has taken hold of the top spot in the singles lineup, posting four ranked wins this spring.
Scouting No. 32 Ole Miss
- The Rebels are 9-3 at home this season.
- The Rebels have won the doubles point in seven of 10 SEC contests.
- Ranked singles players: Gustav Hansson (51), Stefan Lindmark (66)
- Ranked doubles tandems: Filip Kraljevic and Zvonimir Babic (24)
Scouting No. 12 Arkansas
- The Razorbacks are 12-2 at home this season.
- The Razorbacks are a combined 15-5 in SEC competition at the top two singles spots.
- Ranked in singles: Mike Redlicki (26), Jose Salazar (76)
- Ranked doubles tandems: Redlicki and Giammarco Micolani (23)
Up Next
South Carolina will host the 2016 SEC Men’s Tennis Tournament in Columbia, S.C., April 20-24 at the Carolina Tennis Center.
