Gamecocks to Host 10th-ranked MSU Friday, No. 40 Ole Miss on Sunday

COLUMBIA, S.C.— South Carolina men’s tennis (10-2, 0-1 SEC), No. 29 in the latest Oracle/ITA Rankings, will play its first home SEC matches of the spring this weekend at the Carolina Tennis Center, beginning with a Friday night match against 10^th-ranked Mississippi State (10-2, 2-0 SEC) at 1:30 p.m. ET.  The Gamecocks are scheduled host their second match of the weekend against No. 40 Ole Miss (8-6, 0-2 SEC) on Sunday beginning at 1 p.m. ET.

The Gamecocks head into the weekend with a perfect 8-0 home record so far this season.  South Carolina rebounded from a loss in its conference opener last weekend with a 5-2 win at No. 45 Tulsa on Sunday.

Mississippi State has taken two of the last three in the all-time series against South Carolina while the Gamecocks have won two of the last three against Ole Miss.

South Carolina defeated 17^th-ranked Mississippi State 4-3 back in 2017, the last match between the two at the Carolina Tennis Center.  The Gamecocks defeated Ole Miss 5-2 last March before falling to the Rebels 4-1 at the SEC Tournament in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Gamecock Notables:
– 12^th-ranked Paul Jubb’s (19-2, 1-0 SEC) has won seven-straight singles matches, each in straight sets.
– Jubb is a perfect 7-0 in dual matches this season and has built a 36-8 (.818) dual-match record during his collegiate career.
– No. 88 Daniel Rodrigues (23-5, 1-0 SEC) leads the team in singles wins this season and is 9-2 over his first 11 career dual matches.
–  South Carolina owns a combined 148-58 (.718) record in singles matches this season and 46-29 (.613) in doubles.
– The Gamecocks have an 11-0 record at the No. 1 singles spot so far this season, with Jubb going a perfect 7-0 to start the spring.
– South Carolina has won nine doubles points so far this season and is a perfect 9-0 in those matches.
– Carolina, 8-0 at home so far this season, is 26-2 at the Carolina Tennis Center of the past three seasons and 82-30 (.732) at home under Head Coach Josh Goffi.

Scouting the Bulldogs:
– 10^th-ranked Mississippi State fell to a season-low ranking in this week’s Oracle/ITA Rankings despite a 2-0 start to the SEC season last week.  The Bulldogs head into the weekend on a four-match winning streak.
– The Bulldogs swept both No. 49 Kentucky and No. 25 Vanderbilt last weekend to begin conference play.
– Mississippi State has already seen six nationally ranked opponents this season, going 4-2 in those matches.
– No. 3 Nuno Borges went 5-1 during the fall, advancing to the ITA All-American Championships final. Borges is 10-0 to begin dual-match play.
– The Bulldogs return their full roster from their 2018 team that advanced to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals.  Mississippi State welcomes back three All-Americans from last season; Nuno Borges, Giovanni Oradini, and Strahinja Rakic.

Scouting the Rebels:
– No. 40 Ole Miss, 8-6 overall entering the weekend, dropped its first two SEC matches at home last weekend. The Rebels lost 4-3 to Kentucky on Friday night and fell 4-1 against Vanderbilt on Sunday.
– The Rebels are 31-31 on the six singles courts in dual-match play and 17-9 in doubles entering the weekend.
– Ole Miss has been ranked as high as No. 30 in the Oracle/ITA Team Rankings, with two ranked singles players and two ranked doubles pairs in this week’s rankings.
– The Rebels closed out last weekend with a 4-0 win over Mississippi Valley State and will travel to play No 9 Florida before traveling to Columbia.

Rankings Roundup:
South Carolina (29)
Singles

• No. 12 Paul Jubb
• No. 88 Daniel Rodrigues

 
Mississippi State (10)
Singles

• No. 3 Nuno Borges
• No. 102 Giovanni Oradini

Doubles

• No. 4 Niclas Braun/ Giovanni Oradini
• No. 7 Nuno Borges/ Strahinja Rakic

 
Ole Miss (40)
Singles

• No. 73 Tim Sandkaulen

Doubles

• No. 5 Fabian Fallert/ Finn Reynolds
• No. 75 Filip Kraljevic/ Tim Sandkaulen 

Up Next for the Gamecocks
South Carolina, now into the thick of its conference schedule, will be back on the road next weekend to face Tennessee on Friday at 5 p.m. ET, followed by a match at Georgia on Sun., Mar. 17, at 1 p.m. ET.

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