The Daily Gamecock

Gamecock men's, women's tennis teams return to court

Men's tennis team

As the regular season begins, the Gamecock men's tennis team enters with a No. 16 ranking in the Oracle/ITA Team rankings.

Nationally ranked No. 39 doubles duo Raphael Lambling and Daniel Rodrigues earned their fourth victory of the season at the Gamecocks' opening day doubleheader against The Citadel at home Jan. 10.

The Gamecocks were successful in singles play, and the team finished the first match with a score of 7-0 over The Citadel.

Going into the second match of the day, South Carolina made some changes in both their singles and doubles lineups. The team defeated The Citadel 7-0 again.

"Guys were sharp mentally, moving on to the next point, making sure they responded well from whatever situation they were coming out of, and they did a great job at that," head coach Josh Goffi told Gamecocks Online.

On Jan. 12, in their third match of the season, the Gamecocks traveled to Charlotte, where they defeated the 49ers 6-1.

Returning NCAA champion and Gamecock senior Paul Jubb made his singles debut with a 6-2 and 6-1 win over Charlotte's No. 1 Benjamin Wayand.

South Carolina (3-0) participated in the Georgia Tech MLK event in Atlanta from Jan. 18 to Jan. 20.

Women's tennis team

The South Carolina women's tennis team is opening the season with a No. 9 ranking in the Oracle/ITA Women's Division I rankings.

It began its 2020 spring season Jan. 18 with a 1-6 loss at NC State. The team took on the Wolfpack indoors at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center. 

The doubles lineups looked a little different to start off the spring season. Senior Mia Horvit paired up with freshman Emma Shelton for South Carolina's No. 1 doubles team to play against the nationally No. 1-ranked team in Saturday's match. 

South Carolina's No. 2 doubles team, Silvia Chinellato and Megan Davies, played against the No. 22 ranked duo from NC State. 

Junior Kennedy Wicker and freshman Gabriela Martinez rounded out the doubles lineup at No. 3.

In doubles play, NC State won two of three matches. The third match was unfinished.

"NC State outplayed us when it counted so they deserve a lot of credit across the board," head coach Kevin Epley told Gamecocks Online. "There were a couple bright spots in the match and things that we can build on moving forward. Still, we didn't quite look like ourselves, yet, and we're going to have to remedy that quickly to get ready for ITA Kick Off Weekend."

In singles play, Shelton pulled off a comeback to win her match (4-6, 6-2, 6-4), defeating NC State's Lexi Keberle.

No. 27 Horvit, No. 28 Davies and Chinellato all played nationally ranked opponents in their singles matches. 

The Wolfpack is listed at No. 8 in the ITA rankings, making them one of the tougher teams the Gamecocks will face this season despite plenty of ranked opponents in the SEC.

The Gamecocks will continue their season with the ITA Kick-Off Weekend at the Carolina Tennis Center in Columbia. On Jan. 25, South Carolina will face off against Purdue at 10 a.m., and Jan. 26 they will have a doubleheader against Georgia Tech and Wisconsin.


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