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Elite Teams Slated for Gamecock Fall SEC Shootout
Men's Tennis  . 

Elite Teams Slated for Gamecock Fall SEC Shootout

 
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina men’s tennis is set to host the Gamecock Fall SEC Shootout this weekend with all four teams in the event finishing last season in the top 20 to set the stage for three days of great matches at Carolina Tennis Center. The Gamecocks welcome Florida, Georgia and Texas A&M for a round-robin individual tournament that will begin on Fri., Oct. 23. Play is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. each day.
 
Carolina Tennis Center will be closed to the public for the tournament, but fans can watch live video streams of each court or follow live scoring at GamecocksOnline.com.
 
 
Gamecock Notables

  • After closing the 2019-20 season No. 18 in the nation, the Gamecocks looked sharp early this fall, going 14-10 in singles and 9-3 in doubles at the Gamecock Fall SEC Scramble two weeks ago.
  • Juniors Raphael Lambling and Daniel Rodrigues closed out last season ranked Nos. 45 and 46, respectively, in singles and combined to form the nation’s No. 30 doubles team. Senior Thomas Brown and junior Beau Pelletier ended last season ranked No. 80 in doubles.
  • Juniors Daniel Rodrigues and Beau Pelletier each went 3-0 in the season-opening event with Rodrigues claiming the singles title after dropping just five games in his last five sets.
  • Senior Thomas Brown and freshman Toby Samuel each went 2-1 at the first fall tournament.
  • In doubles, the duos of Lambling/Phillip Jordan and Pelletier/Brown enter this weekend 3-0 for the season.

 
 
Tournament Field Notables

  • In the final team rankings of last season, Florida, Georgia and Texas A&M finished Nos. 9, 10 and 11, respectively.
  • The field includes nine top-50 singles entries from last season and three others who were in the top 100.
  • Three Gators ended last season with national rankings – Sam Raffice (5), Duarte Vale (22) and Andy Andrade (97). In their opening tournament this season (at Auburn, Alabama, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt), the Gators went 24-3 in singles and 6-6 in doubles.
  • Georgia is back in Columbia for the second time in as many tournaments this fall. Four Bulldogs ended last season in the singles rankings – Philip Henning (11), Trent Bryde (12), Tyler Zink (80) and Blake Croyder (88). The doubles team of Bryde and Zink were No. 15 in the country last season and claimed the title at the Gamecock SEC Fall Scramble. Georgia went 11-13 in singles and 8-4 in doubles at the event.
  • Four Aggies were in the final singles rankings last season – Valentin Vacherot (3), Hady Habib (28), Juan Carlos Aguilar (34) and Barnaby Smith (111). Texas A&M opened the season at the TCU Invitational (TCU, Texas, Oklahoma), going 10-2 in singles and 6-0 in doubles.

 
 
For all the latest South Carolina men’s tennis information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockMTennis).
 

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