Men's Tennis . April 25, 2018

Gamecocks Open SEC Tournament Play Against Ole Miss

April 25, 2018

COLUMBIA, S.C. –

No. 28 South Carolina vs No. 40 Ole Miss

COLUMBIA, S.C. — No. 28 South Carolina men’s tennis (18-7, 7-5 SEC), which won six of its final seven regular-season matches, will look to build on that momentum as it opens the 2018 SEC Tournament against No. 40 Ole Miss on Thursday afternoon in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The seventh-seeded Gamecocks take on the 10th-seeded Rebels in the second round beginning at 1 p.m. ET from the University of Alabama Tennis Stadium.

The Gamecocks concluded the regular-season last weekend with a dominant 6-1 road victory over in-state rival Clemson, clinching South Carolina Athletics a third-straight win over the Tigers in the Annual Palmetto Series.

With back-to-back wins and victories in six of its last seven matches, South Carolina looks to ride its current hot streak through Thursday to earn the program’s 12th all-time appearance in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals.

QUOTABLE

“This is what we play for all year long. It’s tournament time and the team is looking point and excited to get after it.”

– Head Coach Josh Goffi

SEC TOURNAMENT NOTABLES

South Carolina holds a 10-15 all-time record in the SEC Tournament first and second rounds.
The Gamecocks are 1-1 all-time against Ole Miss in SEC Tournament matches.
The best SEC Tournament finish for South Carolina was a semifinal run in 1999 that included wins over Mississippi State and Ole Miss.
South Carolina’s last SEC Tournament win was a 4-1 victory as the 11th seed in the second round of the 2016 conference tournament.
South Carolina, with three second-round wins in the last five years, is 11-26 all-time in the SEC Tournament.

GAMECOCK NOTABLES

No. 28 South Carolina (18-7, 7-5 SEC) enters this year’s conference tournament as the seventh seed having won its final two regular-season matches. The Gamecocks took six of their last seven regular-season contests and five of their final six SEC outings.
South Carolina finished the regular season with five wins over ITA top-40 opponents en route to the first back-to-back winning SEC seasons in program history.
The Gamecocks, who have tied for the second-most wins in a season under Head Coach Josh Goffi, sit just two wins shy of posting the program’s first back-to-back 20-win seasons since 1984-85.
South Carolina has won the doubles point in five straight matches and 17 matches overall this season. The Gamecocks own a 34-19 combined doubles record so far this season.
Three doubles pairs from South Carolina made it into this week’s Oracle/ ITA rankings: No. 28 Yancy Dennis and Gabriel Friedrich (7-3), No. 38 Dennis and Harrison O’Keefe (7-4), No. 57 Friedrich and Thomas Mayronne (7-2).
No. 38 Dennis and O’Keefe, who moved up 21 spots in this week’s rankings, have two ranked wins on the year, including a win over No. 47 Alex Favrot and Simon Baudry of Clemson last Friday.
No. 57 Friedrich and Mayronne moved up seven spots in this week’s doubles rankings after winning five straight matches.
No. 58 Paul Jubb (22-8, 9-2 SEC) has taken down six ranked opponents on the season, including winning his first career match at No. 1 singles 6-4, 6-1 over No. 66 Alex Favrot of Clemson last week. Jubb has won seven of his last eight outings and has a 17-3 singles record since the start of the dual-match season.
No. 36 Gabriel Friedrich is tied for the team lead with six wins over ranked opponents this season and is tied for fourth place since 1994-95 with 19 career ranked singles wins.
Harrison O’Keefe ranks ninth all-time in career combined wins with a 161-96 career record in singles and doubles.

QUICK HITS: OLE MISS

No. 40 Ole Miss (13-11, 3-9 SEC) enters the SEC Tournament as the 10th seed, earning a first-round bye after going 4-2 over its last six matches.
South Carolina defeated Ole Miss 5-2 at home back on Mar. 25 as Gabriel Friedrich, Paul Jubb, Yancy Dennis, Thomas Mayronne and Wood Benton each captured singles wins after the Gamecocks had dropped the doubles point.
No. 31 Tim Sandkaulen (20-12, 3-8 SEC), the highest ranked singles player for Ole Miss, but is just 5-5 in his last 10 matches.
No. 44 Gustav Hansson (9-5, 1-1 SEC) jumped seven spots in this week’s singles rankings and leads Ole Miss with five wins over nationally ranked opponents this season. Hansson hasn’t played since Mar. 9, with the Rebels going just 4-7 in his absence.
Ole Miss is 18-20 combined from the Nos. 1 and 2 singles positions this season, while South Carolina holds a 35-13 combined record at those two spots.
Sandkaulen and Fabian Fallert are the nation’s 17th-ranked doubles pair with a 9-4 overall record and three wins over nationally ranked tandems.
Sandkaulen and Grey Hamilton also remained as the No. 46 pair in the country this week and are 6-2 in doubles play on the season.
South Carolina trails in the all-time series against Ole Miss (10-25) but has won two straight and is 1-1 against the Rebels all-time in the SEC Tournament.