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Men’s Tennis Begins SEC Tournament Against Alabama
Men's Tennis  . 

Men’s Tennis Begins SEC Tournament Against Alabama

Columbia, S.C. – No. 24 South Carolina men’s tennis will begin its postseason journey on Thursday with the start of the SEC Tournament. The No. 11 seed Gamecocks will take on the sixth-seeded Crimson Tide at 3:00 p.m. ET in Baton Rouge.

The meeting will be at the LSU Tennis Complex located at Gourrier Ave. with gates opening one four prior to first serve. For fans not in attendance, live stats will be available here with live streaming here.

A full schedule of matches with live stat and streaming links along with ticketing information can be found on the tournament webpage.

Gamecock Notables

  • South Carolina begins postseason play ranked No. 24 in the nation. The Gamecocks went 14-13 through the regular season and 4-8 in conference matches. They are 4-4 when playing on the road this season and 2-2 in neutral site matches.
  • Senior Toby Samuel leads the team from the top of the singles lineup. He is currently ranked No. 15 in the ITA Singles Rankings and has an overall record of 16-4. He became the first player in program history to have a perfect SEC season thanks to his 10-0 mark in conference matches and he enters the postseason on a 13-match win streak.
  • Also in the ITA Singles Rankings is junior Casey Hoole who comes in at No. 101. Hoole is 19-19 this season with seven wins in dual matches. He was out to the lineup for the final three weeks of the regular season due to injury and is currently listed as day-to-day.
  • Sophomore Lucas Andrade da Silva has been a key for the lineup this season, He is 25-13 overall and 14-7 in dual matches. He went 6-3 in SEC play and enters postseason play with a four-match win streak.
  • In the ITA Doubles Rankings, Hoole and Samuel come in at No. 17. The duo is 9-5 this season with a pair of top-15 wins but have not played together in three weeks due to Hoole’s injury.

SEC Tournament History

  • South Carolina is 13-30 all time in the SEC Tournament and has made three appearances in the semifinals with two under head coach Josh Goffi – 1999, 2019, and 2021
  • During the 2023 SEC Tournament, the Gamecocks were the No. 4 seed but fell to fifth-seeded Texas A&M in the quarterfinals.
  • South Carolina has advanced to the quarterfinals eight times under Goffi.

Scouting the Crimson Tide

  • Alabama earned the No. 6 seed in the SEC Tournament thanks to a 6-6 record in SEC play this season. The Crimson Tide went 17-11 overall and are 4-7 when playing on the road and 4-2 when playing at neutral sites.
  • Alabama is currently ranked No. 19 in the nation and has been ranked as high as No. 18 this season.
  • The Tide has three players in the ITA Singles Rankings – No. 32 Filip Planinsek, No. 110 Enzo Aguiard, and No. 117 Adrii Zimnokh.
  • Planinsek leads the team from the top of the singles lineup where he is 13-10. He has an overall record of 20-12 this season and won six SEC matches.
  • Aguiard has played each of the top four spots in the lineup this season and has an overall record of 16-16. He is a perfect 3-0 when playing at the top of the lineup but mostly plays from the No. 2 position where he is 6-8.
  • Zimnokh has an overall record of 24-10 and an 18-8 mark in dual matches. He tallied six SEC wins this season and has a winning record at the Nos. 2, 3, 4, and 5 positions.
  • The Tide also has two pairs in the ITA Doubles Rankings with Aguiard and Zach Foster at No. 38 and Planinsek and Zimnokh at No. 51.
  • Aguiard and Foster are 11-9 this season and 9-8 in dual matches. They are 4-5 from the No. 1 position and 5-3 from the No. 2 position.
  • Planinsek and Zimnokh are 17-12 overall and 11-10 in dual matches. They have three SEC wins this season and primarily play at the No. 2 spot in the lineup.

Series History

  • Alabama holds a narrow lead in the all-time series against South Carolina 25-24.
  • The two teams first faced on April 26, 1968 with South Carolina winning 7-2 in Tuscaloosa. The Gamecocks went on to claim the next two matches of the series as well.
  • Under Goffi, South Carolina is 10-5 against Alabama.
  • South Carolina has won each of the last four meetings in the series with the most recent a 4-3 win during the regular season. Alabama’s last win was a 4-3 victory in 2020.

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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