South Carolina is slated to host the 2016 SEC Men's Tennis Championship that will begin Wednesday and run through the weekend. The Gamecocks will enter the tournament as significant underdogs, ranked No. 11 in a 13 team field.
It was a season of highs and lows for the Gamecocks’ Men’s Tennis team. They finished with a regular season record of 13-14 and went just 4-8 in conference play.
The poor record may be deceiving. Five of the Gamecocks' losses were by a score of 4-3, and one of those heartbreaking defeats came against Kentucky who finished No. 5 in the SEC. This year’s team also got their highest ranked win since 2013 when they upset Arkansas this past Sunday, ranked No. 12 nationally at the time of the match. All of this was accomplished by a team that does not have a single senior on the roster.
South Carolina will begin play with the same Arkansas team that they just beat on Sunday in a 4-3 thriller. This first match sets up well for the Gamecocks, since they have home-court advantage against a team they just beat.
If the Gamecocks are able to make it to the quarterfinals, the level of competition increases dramatically. They would have to face the reigning SEC Tournament Champions, the Texas A&M Aggies. The Aggies had a great season and finished third in the SEC. This match-up is not favorable for the Gamecocks. The Aggies cruised to a 6-1 victory when they played South Carolina during the regular season.
What makes this tournament so intriguing for South Carolina is that this is a young team carrying a lot of momentum into a tournament where they have home-court advantage.
The match against Arkansas is Thursday at 10 a.m. at the Carolina Tennis Center. Admission is free for all of the matches.