On playing in-state rivals Clemson
“When you’re playing Clemson, you throw all records and rankings out the door. It’s just like the SEC- they bring it and it’s going to be a bloodbath. I know that’s what we’re going to bring, and we’ll wait and see what they’re going to bring, but we’re expecting it. That’s what happens when you play rivals.”

– Head Coach Josh Goffi

GAMECOCK NOTABLES

• No. 28 South Carolina (17-7, 7-5 SEC) can clinch a third-straight win for the Gamecocks in the annual Palmetto Series with a win on Friday night. South Carolina currently leads the series 7-5 with the academic point (to be determined in June) and men’s tennis as the only remaining points up for grabs.
• The Gamecocks finished their SEC regular season with five straight home wins, all against ranked SEC opponents. South Carolina defeated No. 45 Alabama 4-3 last weekend to clinch the fifth winning season in SEC play in school history.
• South Carolina’s win over Alabama also clinched the first ever back-to-back winning seasons in the SEC in program history. The Gamecocks now sit just one win shy of posting the second-highest win total under Head Coach Josh Goffi.
• South Carolina has won the doubles point in four straight matches and 16 matches overall this season.
• No. 63 Paul Jubb (21-8, 9-2 SEC) had a dominant 6-0, 6-2 win on Sunday, tying him for the most SEC wins by a sophomore in program history.
• Yancy Dennis (24-12, 5-7) picked up a fifth SEC win in straight sets with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Alexy Nesterov of Alabama last Sunday and leads the Gamecocks with 24 singles wins.
• No. 33 Gabriel Friedrich (22-12, 5-7 SEC) leads South Carolina with six wins over ranked opponents as the Gamecocks’ No. 1 singles player and is tied for fifth all-time with 50 career matches against ranked opponents.
• This week’s ITA rankings continued to feature three ranked doubles pairs for South Carolina ââ’¬” No. 31 Gabriel Friedrich and Yancy Dennis (7-3, 2-2 SEC), No. 59 Dennis and Harrison O’Keefe (6-4, 3-3 SEC), and No. 64 Gabriel Friedrich and Thomas Mayronne (6-2, 4-1 SEC).

QUICK HITS: CLEMSON

• Clemson (10-10, 3-8 ACC) enters the weekend after sweeping The Citadel, 7-0 on Wednesday night.
• Clemson has dropped four of its last five matches, going just 4-9 in March and April after beginning the spring season 6-1.
• Senior No. 66 Alex Favrot (13-13) is the only ranked Tiger in this week’s Oracle/ITA top-125 while Favrot and Simon Baudry (12-5) are the No. 47 doubles pair in this week’s rankings.
• Baudry (21-7) enters the weekend having won seven of his last eight outings.
• South Carolina Head Coach Josh Goffi, graduated from Clemson in 2001 and was a three-time First-Team All-ACC player for the Tigers, reaching career-high No. 9 singles ranking and No. 3 doubles ranking as a Tiger.
• During his playing career at Clemson, Goffi was named All-Region on two occasions and won the ACC singles and doubles championships in 1999.
• South Carolina owns a 66-42-2 lead in the all-time series against Clemson that dates back to 1925. The Gamecocks have won three straight over the Tigers and five of the last six, including a 6-0 home win last season.

UP NEXT FOR THE GAMECOCKS

South Carolina will travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala., as the No.7 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament where it will take on 10th-seeded Ole Miss on Apr. 26, at 1 p.m. ET.

For updates, continue to check back with GamecocksOnline.com or follow the team on social media (@GamecockMTennis).