Men's Tennis . April 17, 2019

Gamecocks Draw No. 42 LSU in SEC Tourney Second Round

Carolina will play LSU on Thursday morning at 9 a.m. ET.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – 22nd-ranked South Carolina men’s tennis (15-8, 5-7 SEC), following a first round bye, will face a rematch against on No. 42 LSU (16-10, 3-9 SEC) on Thursday beginning at 9 a.m. ET, in the second round of the SEC Tournament from the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex.

Carolina defeated LSU, 5-2 back on Mar. 30 in the Gamecocks’ home finale. South Carolina won the doubles point in the first match against the Tigers followed by a trio of three-set victories to finish with a 12-2 home record on the season.

The winner of Thursday’s second-round match will advance to play the No. 3 seed, 11th-ranked Texas A&M (20-6, 10-2 SEC) on Friday morning at 9 a.m. ET.

Tickets are sold as a one-day or an all-session pass. One-day tickets are $5 for adults and $2 for youth 12 and under. All-session passes are $15 for adults and $10 for youth 12 and under.

Carolina SEC Tournament History:
– The Gamecocks have earned 10 of their 11 all-time wins in the first and second rounds.
– South Carolina’s best finish was a run to the semifinal in 1999 in which it posted wins over Mississippi State and Ole Miss before falling to LSU. The 1999 SEC Tournament was the first to be hosted in Gainesville.
– Carolina dropped its second-round match to Ole Miss in last season’s SEC Tournament from Tuscaloosa, Ala.
– This year marks the third time that the men’s SEC Tournament has been hosted by the University of Florida.

Gamecock Notables:
– Sixth-ranked Paul Jubb (29-3) finished with the most SEC wins (11) and highest SEC win pct (.917) in school history this year and is currently first all-time in career dual-match win pct (45-9, .833), first in career SEC win pct (26-5, .839), and first in career win pct vs ranked opponents (23-12, .657).
– Earlier this season, Jubb tied the highest singles ranking in program history earlier this season, reaching No. 4 in the ITA Top-125. His 16 ranked wins has already set a single-season program record while his 17-1 (.944) dual-match record is the second-best single season win percentage in school history.
– True freshman Daniel Rodrigues (29-9) went 7-4 in SEC play at No. 2 singles for Carolina, the sixth-highest win pct (.636) for a freshman in program history and tied for fifth-most wins (7). His team-leading 29 singles wins is tied for third-most by a freshman in Carolina history..
– Freshman Raphael Lambling (25-11) finished 6-6 in SEC play, tying for seventh-most conference wins by a freshman in program history. Lambling has reached as high as No. 95 in the ITA Singles Rankings and tied the fifth-longest win streak in school history, winning 15-straight singles matches earlier this season.
– Joseph Brailovsky (24-14) is just three wins shy of breaking into the top-10 for most wins by a freshman in program history. He went 5-4 playing No. 5 singles for the Gamecocks this spring, finishing at 11-10 in dual-matches.
– Sophomore, Thomas Brown, 8-4 in all dual matches this season, finished 4-3 in SEC play after moving into the Gamecocks’ lineup at the tail end of the regular season.
– South Carolina is a perfect 13-0 when winning the doubles point so far this season with its last doubles victory coming in its home win over LSU.

Scouting the Tigers:
– No. 42 LSU (16-10, 3-9 SEC) dropped its final two matches of the season, losing 4-3 to Ole Miss before a 4-0 loss to Mississippi State in it’s home finale.
– Malik Bhatnagar leads the Tigers with 20 wins on the season, going 11-5 for LSU at No. 3 singles this spring.
– Rafael Wager heads into the weekend having won two-straight, finishing conference play at 16-10 overall.
– Shane Monroe has dropped eight-straight singles matches and finishes the season 6-9 at the No. 1 position with a 6-11 mark in all dual matches.
– No. 109 Boris Kozlov, the Tigers’ lone ranked singles player, finished SEC play at 19-6 on the season.