Goffi, Rodrigues Earn Regional Honors
Goffi was named the Wilson ITA Coach of the Year and Rodrigues was named the ITA Senior Player of the Year
Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina men’s tennis head coach Josh Goffi and Daniel Rodrigues both earned ITA Carolina Region honors, the association announced Monday.
Goffi was named the Wilson ITA Coach of the Year for the Carolina Region for the third time in his career and the second-consecutive season. He had previously earned the honor in 2013 after his third year at the helm.
In his 12th season at South Carolina, Goffi led the Gamecocks to a 23-7 record that included a program-best 10 wins in the SEC and a trip to the NCAA Round of 16 for the second-consecutive year. South Carolina ended the season at No. 10 in the final ITA team rankings, the highest final rank since the 1989 season. The Gamecocks have finished in the top-25 every season since 2017, the longest such streak in program history.
Of the team’s 30 matches, 20 were against ranked opponents, and the Gamecocks earned 13 ranked wins with four of them over top-10 teams. Goffi also led South Carolina to a win over then-No. 1 Tennessee on the road in Knoxville, earning the program’s first true road win over the country’s No. 1 team. South Carolina finished a program-best second in the SEC.
Rodrigues was named the ITA Senior Player of the Year for the Carolina Region. The Funchal, Portugal, native earned a 27-5 singles record during his fourth year on the team, compiling 20 wins over ranked opponents. His .844 season winning percentage ranks at 13th place in the program record book. He was the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Singles Championship and advanced to the Round of 16, qualifying him for All-America status, his second consecutive year earning the honor.
Overall in his career, Rodrigues is 108-32 in singles with a .771 win percentage. Those 108 singles wins are sixth most in program history.
The team captain earned the No. 1 singles ranking by the ITA during the penultimate ranking release, joining a group of few collegiate tennis players to earn that ranking during multiple seasons. He became the first Gamecock to hold the top ranking during the 2021 season. Rodrigues finished the season with a final rank of No. 3, which ties for highest final ranking in program history.
Rodrigues also had a successful season in doubles, earning a 22-8 overall record with partner Connor Thomson. The duo’s 22 wins are tied for second-most matches won in a season by a doubles team. The pair won a program-record 18 matches in dual play during the 2022 season. Rodrigues also earned All-America status in doubles after his run to the semifinal round of the NCAA Doubles Championships. His trip to the doubles semifinals is the furthest that a South Carolina pair has ever advanced in the championships. Thomson and Rodrigues finished the season ranked at No. 6 in doubles, the highest final doubles ranking in program history.
Rodrigues is only the fourth player in program history to earn a regional senior player of the year honor and the first since Guillaume Legat in 2001.
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