Carolina to Host Pair of Top-40 SEC Teams

COLUMBIA, S.C.— South Carolina men’s tennis (11-5, 1-4 SEC) will be back at home to host another pair of ITA Top-40 teams this weekend beginning with No. 40 Kentucky (9-8, 3-2 SEC) on Thursday at 4 p.m. ET.  Carolina will take on No. 28 Vanderbilt (13-4, 3-2 SEC) on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. ET.
 
South Carolina has won 14 of its last 15 matches at the Carolina Tennis Center dating back to last season with a 9-1 home record to start the 2019 spring campaign.

The Gamecocks are in the midst of eight-straight matches against ITA Top-50 opponents as they look to snap a three-match losing skid this weekend.  Carolina is a combined 158-72 (.687) in singles matches this season with a 62-31 (.667) mark in dual matches.
 
The home team has won each of the last seven matches in the all-time series against Kentucky with the Wildcats taking last year’s matchup in Lexington, 4-2.  South Carolina had won two-straight over Vanderbilt before falling to the Commodores, 5-2 in Nashville last season.

Gamecock Notables:
– Fifth-ranked Paul Jubb (22-3) owns a 10-1 dual-match record this season with a 39-8 dual-match singles record during his collegiate career.
– Jubb has won 10 of his last 11 singles matches, going 2-0 last weekend with ranked wins over No. 59 Timo Stodder of Tennessee and Georgia’s 20^th-ranked Emil Reinberg.
– No. 63 Jubb and doubles partner Raphael Lambling have split a stretch of four-consecutive matches against ranked opponents, breaking into the latest Oracle/ITA doubles rankings for the first time this week.
– South Carolina is a perfect 10-0 when winning the doubles point so far this season.
 
Scouting the Wildcats:
– The Wildcats, 9-8 overall with a 3-2 mark in SEC play this season, has won two of its last three matches.  Kentucky fell 4-3 on the road at No. 37 Arkansas last week after a 2-0 weekend at home the week prior.
– Kentucky won 5-2 over 17^th-ranked Alabama earlier this month and is 2-7 against nationally ranked teams so far this season.
– The Wildcats are a combined 54-36 on the six singles courts in dual matches going 28-17 (.622) at Nos. 1-3 and 26-19 (.577) at Nos. 4-6 singles.
 
Scouting the Commodores:
– Vanderbilt has won three of its last four, defeating Arkansas 4-3 on the road in its only match last weekend.
– Vandy is 3-2 to open conference play with wins over Ole Miss, Auburn and Arkansas.
– The Commodores will travel to Gainesville, Fla., to face Florida on Thursday at 5 p.m. ET, before playing the Gamecocks in Columbia on Saturday afternoon.
– Vandy had notable non-conference wins earlier this season over Penn State (4-3) and Michigan State (6-1) but fell 4-0 in a neutral site game against Notre Dame.
 
Rankings Roundup:
South Carolina (32)
Singles

• No. 5 Paul Jubb
• No. 93 Daniel Rodrigues

Doubles

• No. 63 Paul Jubb/Raphael Lambling

 
Kentucky (40)
Singles

• No. 36 Ryotaro Matsumura
• No. 118 Enzo Wallart

 
Vanderbilt (28)
Singles

• No. 89 Cameron Klinger

Doubles

• No. 71 Cameron Klinger/Maxwell Freeman
• No. 80 Cameron Klinger/Billy Rowe

* team rank in ()
 
Up Next for the Gamecocks:
South Carolina will be back at home next weekend for its final two home matches of the season. The Gamecocks will play Texas A&M on Fri., Mar. 29, at 5 p.m. ET, before its home finale against LSU on Sun., Mar. 31, 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).