Men’s Tennis Begins Quest at ITA Indoor Championships Friday

Chicago Ill. – No. 8 South Carolina men’s tennis will begin competition at the ITA Men’s Team Indoor Championships on Fri. Feb. 17 at 10 a.m. ET at the XS Tennis Village in Chicago, Ill.

The Gamecocks earned the No. 6 seed at the event and will take on the No. 11 seed Georgia. The Bulldogs are currently ranked No. 13 by the ITA from the Feb. 8 rankings.

South Carolina earned their spot at the event after defeating Penn and NC State during the ITA Kickoff Weekend. This is the Gamecocks third appearance at the Indoor Championships in the last four seasons. In 2022, the team advanced to the quarterfinals which was the furthest they had been since 1999.

The SEC showdown will take place on Courts 7-12 at the XS Tennis Village. Tickets to the match are available here. Those not in attendance can view live scores here and live streaming here. The match will also be aired on the Cracked Racquets CrosscourtCast.

Gamecock Notables

• The Gamecocks have won eight straight matches to start the 2023 season. The team is 5-0 at home and 3-0 when on the road. They have ranked wins over then-No. 18 North Carolina and No. 10 Wake Forest.
• Junior James Story enters the event as the reigning SEC Co-Player of the week for his recent performances against Georgia Tech and No. 10 Wake Forest. Story is a perfect 7-0 in dual singles action and 8-0 in dual doubles.
• The Gamecocks have three singles players in the ITA rankings – No. 11 Toby Samuel, No. 12 Connor Thomson, and No. 67 Raphael Lambling. Samuel has a dual singles record of 6-1 with ranked wins over Nos. 48, 63, and 118. Thomson is 7-1 in dual singles and has an overall record of 20-3. Lambling is 3-3 in dual play and has an overall record of 6-3 with a ranked win over No. 21.
• South Carolina’s entire doubles lineup is ranked. Samuel and Thomson are No. 3, Story and partner Jake Beasley are No. 30, and Lambling and his partner Casey Hoole are No. 59.

Scouting the Bulldogs

• Georgia is 4-4 on the season so far. Their wins come over LSU and Louisville during the ITA Kickoff Weekend, and over No. 16 Stanford and Georgia Tech. They have suffered losses at No. 16 Florida State, at No. 7 Texas, against No. 7 Southern California, and most recently to Illinois while at the XS Tennis Village.
• The Bulldogs have been led this season by freshman standout Ethan Quinn. Quinn is currently ranked No. 5 in the ITA singles rankings. He has a dual record of 2-5 at the top spot in the lineup.
• Also in the singles rankings is fifth-year senior Philip Henning at No. 8, Blake Croyder at No. 62, and Trent Bryde at No. 87.
• Bryde has been a steady force at the No. 4 spot in the lineup, going 4-0. He has an overall dual record of 5-2
• Bryde and Quinn are also ranked in doubles, coming in at No. 24. They are 3-4 from the top spot in the doubles lineup.

Series History

• Georgia leads the all-time series 38-10 and won the most recent matchup in Athens 4-3 on March 13, 2022.
• Prior to the 2022 matchup, South Carolina had won four of the last five meetings.
• The two teams have met four times on neutral territory with the Bulldogs winning three of the four matches. The last neutral site meeting was in January of 2020 at the ITA Kickoff Weekend hosted by Mississippi State. The Gamecocks came out on top 4-3 and advanced to their first ITA Indoor Championships since 2006.

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