Men’s Tennis Set to Host NCAA Columbia Regional, Face Richmond in First Round
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The No. 13 South Carolina men’s tennis team has earned an at-large bid to the 2026 NCAA Tournament, marking its 31st appearance in program history. The Gamecocks were tabbed as the 13th seed and will host Richmond, North Carolina and Michigan State in the Columbia regional.
This marks the 12th NCAA appearance for the Gamecocks under head coach Josh Goffi’s tenure.
South Carolina (16-8, 8-6 SEC) faces Richmond (17-8, 2-2 A10) on Friday, May 1 at 2:00 p.m. This will be the Gamecocks’ second consecutive year facing the Atlantic 10 conference champion in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, after facing VCU last season.
The Gamecocks are coming off SEC Championships, where they fell 4-0 to Mississippi State in the quarterfinals after defeating Ole Miss 4-1 in their opening match. South Carolina has had a challenging dual match campaign this season, facing 13 top 25 ranked opponents. Every opponent in conference play was ranked. The Gamecocks held a six-match win streak into the start of SEC play and additionally earned notable upset wins over Columbia (then-no. 10), Oklahoma (then-No. 18) and Florida (then-No. 16).
The Gamecocks have six total tabs in ITA rankings across singles and doubles. Lucas da Silva leads the team in singles at No. 14 followed by No. 86 Sean Daryabeigi and No. 99 Paul Barbier Gazeu. In doubles, da Silva and Barbier Gazeu headline at No. 7 while Daryabeigi and Max Stenzer are No. 60 and Daryabeigi and da Silva are No. 62.
Da Silva and Barbier Gazeu represented the Garnet & Black in the SEC postseason awards with da Silva being named to the First Team All-SEC and Barbier Gazeu garnering Second Team All-SEC honors in addition to a spot on the SEC All-Freshman Team.
First- and second-round competition takes place May 1-2 or May 2-3 and features four teams playing in a single-elimination format. The winner of each site advances to the super-regional competition on May 8 or 9. Each super-regional site will feature two teams playing a single-elimination format. The super-regional winners advance to the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga., where the eight teams compete for the national championship, May 14-17.
The Gamecocks are one of 13 SEC teams that are in the men’s tournament this year.
For the latest South Carolina men’s tennis information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockMTennis).
Schedule
Friday, May 1
UNC vs. Michigan State – 11 a.m.
South Carolina vs. Richmond – 2 p.m.
Saturday, May 2
Match 1 winner vs. Match 2 winner – 2 p.m.
