Men's Tennis . May 9, 2024

Men’s Tennis Prepped For Friday’s Super Regional in Charlottesville

Charlottesville, Va. – No. 16 South Carolina men’s tennis will take on No. 2 Virginia in the NCAA Super Regionals on Friday afternoon. The dual will begin at 4:00 p.m. at the Boar’s Head Resort.

South Carolina is in its fourth consecutive Round of 16 at the NCAA Tournament and looks to repeat the success of last season in which the team won a Super Regional on the road to advance to the quarterfinals.

Admission to the match will be free with gates opening one hour prior to first serve. For those not in attendance, live stats will be available here with live streaming here. The match will also be broadcast on the Cracked Racquets CrossCourt Cast free on YouTube.

Gamecock Notables

South Carolina men’s tennis is 19-14 overall on the season and went 4-8 in conference play. The team is 5-4 when playing on the road and 6-3 when playing at neutral sites.
The Gamecocks have found success in the postseason, having become the lowest seed to ever advance to the SEC Tournament title match and upsetting host NC State at the Raleigh regional during the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
The Gamecocks are led this season by No. 6 Toby Samuel. The senior is 21-5 overall this season, all from the top of the lineup, 19 of his last 19 matches.
Samuel is followed in the ITA Singles Rankings by No. 97 James Story. Story is 12-11 overall this season and made his jump up into the rankings following a strong performance at the SEC Tournament where he went 3-1 in singles with two of his wins over top-50 opponents.
Also in the singles rankings is No. 101 Casey Hoole. Hoole is 19-20 overall this season and has seen limited singles action recently due to ongoing injury. He made his return to the singles lineup during the second round of the NCAA Tournament against NC State but dropped his match to No. 74 Braden Shick.
Samuel and Hoole pair up together as the nation’s No. 20 doubles team. The pair holds a 9-5 record and has been ranked as high as No. 9 in the country this season.
Samuel and Story also hold a spot in the doubles rankings together. The duo is 4-2 with a pair of top-15 ranked wins under their belt.

Scouting the Cavaliers

Virginia is the reigning back-to-back national champions and currently has four players in the singles rankings and a top-5 doubles pair. The team is currently ranked No. 2 in the country but is the tournament’s No. 3 seed.
In the singles rankings, Chris Rodesch leads the team at No. 3, followed by Inaki Montes de la Torre at No. 33, Dylan Dietrich at No. 52, and Jeffrey von der Schulenburg at No. 61.
In the doubles rankings Montes de la Torre is ranked at No. 5 with James Hopper.
Virginia has not lost a match outdoors since the 2021 NCAA Round of 16 against Southern California.
The Cavaliers are 12-1 at home this season with their lone loss coming at the hands of the Gamecocks.
Virginia has advanced to the quarterfinals in 16 of the last 18 NCAA Tournaments, the semifinals in 12 of the past 16 and played in eight of the last 12 title matches with six national titles.

Series History

The Gamecocks and Cavaliers have faced off 16 times in the history of both programs with South Carolina holding a 9-7 lead in the all-time series.
The first matchup took place in April of 1957 with the most recent battle during the 2024 season opener in January.
South Carolina holds the longest win streak of the series with seven wins between 1976-1998.
Prior to January’s meeting, all of South Carolina’s wins in the series has come at home or on neutral territory. The 4-3 victory in January was the Gamecocks first win in Charlottesville.
The meeting of the Gamecocks and Cavaliers in Charlottesville for a Super Regional is familiar to the Gamecock faithful who saw the same scenario in 2022. The Cavaliers won that match 4-0 after play was pushed indoor after doubles had completed.

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