Gamecocks Kickoff SEC Action

Columbia, S.C. – No. 6 South Carolina men’s tennis will begin conference play this weekend at No. 5 Florida Friday and versus No. 42 LSU at Carolina Tennis Center on Sunday.
 
The Gamecocks start SEC play on the road on Friday with first serve set for 5 p.m. at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex in Gainesville, Fla. Live stats and streaming links are available on GamecocksOnline.com. The match will also be aired on the SEC College Tennis Redzone Broadcast presented by Cracked Racquets.
 
SEC competition will continue for the Gamecocks at home on Sunday, March 6, against LSU. The Gamecocks will face the Tigers at Carolina Tennis Center at 1 p.m. Admission to the match is free and open to the public. Live stats and streaming links will be available on GamecockOnline.com.
 
Gamecock Notables

• The Gamecocks are 11-2 on the season with three of their wins coming over top-10 opponents.
• This will be South Carolina’s first appearance following its run at the ITA Indoor National Championships where it upset No. 8 Stanford and No. 10 Kentucky to rise to its current No. 6 ranking.
• Four Gamecocks earned ranked singles wins during the ITA Indoor Championships. Toby Samuel defeated No. 38, Connor Thomson defeated No. 49, Jake Beasley defeated No. 78 and James Story defeated No. 114.
• South Carolina has been ranked at No. 6 in the last two ITA polls, the team’s highest ranking since 1989. Three Gamecocks are ranked in singles – No. 19 Daniel Rodrigues, No. 41 Samuel, and No. 109 Thomson. One doubles pair is ranked – No. 13 Rodrigues/Thomson.
• The Gamecocks are led by Rodrigues who is 9-1 from the No. 1 position in singles and 9-1 from the No. 1 doubles position when paired with Thomson

 
Scouting the Gators

• Florida is 7-2 on the season with four of its wins over ranked opponents – No. 3 Texas, No. 14 UCF, No. 7 Virginia, and No. 9 Georgia. Their only losses are to No. 5 TCU and No. 14 Texas.
• The Gators also qualified for the ITA Indoor National Championships and went 2-1 through the event with both of their wins coming over top-10 teams.
• Florida is on a two-match win streak and is undefeated at home on the season. They lead the series 32-6 all time against South Carolina.
• The Gators boast five ranked singles players – No. 3 Ben Shelton, No. 36 Andy Andrade, No. 58 Mattias Siimar, No. 63 Sam Riffice, and No. 113 Josh Goodger – and one ranked doubles pair – No. 32 Siimar/Abedallah Shelbayh.
• Florida’s No. in the singles lineup is Riffice, who is 4-4 on the season in singles and in doubles when paired with Shelton.

 
Scouting the Tigers

• LSU is 7-2 on the season with its only losses coming against South Carolina during the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Columbia and against Texas Tech in Fort Worth.
• The Tigers are on a two-match win streak and will face No. 25 Auburn on the road Friday before traveling to Columbia to face the Gamecocks on Sunday.
• Ronnie Hohmann is the lone ranked singles player for LSU. He comes in at No. 35 in the latest rankings.
• LSU holds a 29-17 all-time record over the Gamecocks but has not won a match in the series since 2016. With its win during the ITA Kickoff Weekend, South Carolina is now on a seven-match win streak over the Tigers.

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