Mens tennis

[Viennacock]

I know there's not much interest but our tennis team is dancing. Beat SC State and Fla. State today to advance in the NCAA tournament. If Tenn beats Wake tomorrow, we will have to travel to Tenn. We are ranked higher in the polls but.... They beat us earlier this year. Great atmosphere this afternoon.

Fyi- we have the #1 doubles team in the country and the #10 singles player.

 

[atl-cock]

Thanks for sharing. Go Gamecocks!

 

[USCEDGE]

I know there's not much interest but our tennis team is dancing. Beat SC State and Fla. State today to advance to the elite 8. If Tenn beats Wake tomorrow, we will have to travel to Tenn. We are ranked higher in the polls but.... They beat us earlier this year. Great atmosphere this afternoon.

Fyi- we have the #1 doubles team in the country and the #10 singles player.

What if Wake beats Tenn?

 

[ConwayGamecock]

Men's NCAA tennis tournament is now a 64-team tournament. The #9-Seed Gamecocks hosted the 1st (round of 64) and 2nd (round of 32) rounds at the Carolina Tennis Center against South Carolina State and Florida State, respectively. Their host was a Regional involving four (4) teams, with the top 16 seeds hosting their own Regionals, similar to how collegiate baseball has their tournament. Baylor was the 4th team in the Gamecocks' Regional.

Having beaten both teams in their regional draw to advance to the round of 16, the Gamecocks await the final Regional match between #8-Seed Tennessee and Wake Forest in the Knoxville Regional. The winner of that will face the Gamecocks in a two-team Super Regional, again similar to how collegiate baseball's NCAA Tournament is set up. Both teams will play a single-elimination format on May 12 or 13 in Knoxville if Tennessee wins, in Columbia should Wake Forest win.

This is the 3rd consecutive year the Gamecocks have advanced to the Round of 16, losing to Virginia last season 4-0 in their Super Regional in Charlottesville. Since the NCAA expanded the tournament to its current 64-team format beginning with the 1999 tournament, the Gamecocks have advanced as far as the Round of 16 4 times (2005, 2021, 2022, and 2023), with the last three being consecutive appearances. From 1977 through 1998 the tournament was a 16-team format, with the "first" round being the round of 16. In the 64-team format, the Gamecocks have yet to advance past the round of 16, so a win against either Tennessee or Wake Forest would be precedent-setting for the program.

The furthest the Gamecocks have ever advanced in the NCAA Tournament was in 1989, when the Gamecocks reached the Semifinal round, or the final four teams. They lost to Stanford 5-3 that season. The first ever appearance that the Gamecocks made in the NCAAT was in 1978, where the Gamecocks lost again to Stanford - this time in the first round 8-1 to the John McEnroe-led Cardinal. The Gamecocks were led by Chris Mayotte, the brother of ATP professional Tim Mayotte. Chris lost to McEnroe in the #1 Singles 6-4, 6-2.....

 

[Viennacock]

What if Wake beats Tenn?

We'll play in Cola. If Wake wins.

 

[ConwayGamecock]

Tennessee beat Wake 4-0, so we now travel to Knoxville to take on the Vols. We played them once this season, in Columbia, and lost to them 1-6. Hopefully we reverse the roles on their courts this time around....

 

[Viennacock]

Tennessee beat Wake 4-0, so we now travel to Knoxville to take on the Vols. We played them once this season, in Columbia, and lost to them 1-6. Hopefully we reverse the roles on their courts this time around....

1-6 sounds like a blowout but when you look at the scores, it was a very tight match. 3 or 4 set match tie-breakers and several set tie-breakers. Anyone that plays tennis knows these tie-breakers could go either way.

 

[Dallas-Cock]

Gamecocks beat Tennessee 4-2 to advance. Play winner of Uncarolina/Texas next.

 

[Viennacock]

Gamecocks beat Tennessee 4-2 to advance. Play winner of Uncarolina/Texas next.

Yes, great win. If ya'll have never been to a match, you are missing out.

 

[ConwayGamecock]

Playing #1 Texas tonight in the Quarterfinals. Doubles fell 1-2 - the matches we lost were to lower-ranked doubles teams - which means we'll need to win 4 of 6 singles to advance. We're playing in Orlando, FL., and there is a lightening delay with all singles matches halted late in the 1st sets, and most but one are around 4-4 and 4-5 each, so they are very tightly contested. The one match we are trailing 2-5 in......

But this is the furthest the team has advanced in NCAAT play since 1989, when they advanced to the semifinals. They need to beat Texas tonight to equal that feat.....

 

[ConwayGamecock]

 

[ConwayGamecock]

#1-ranked Texas wins 4-0. I above thought all 9 matches - the 3 doubles matches then the 6 singles matches - were counted as individual match points, for a 9-match best 5 out of 9 format. I was wrong. The three (3) doubles matches - each a single-set match - counted as only one "point" towards the total best 4 out of 7 point format, with the 6 singles matches being the 6 final points. Texas won 2 out of 3 of the doubles "matches", to earn the first point 1-0 before the rain delay. Then in conclusion of the rain-delayed singles, they won the first 3 singles matches that completed, earning them an incontestable 4 points. The other singles matches not yet finished were discontinued as no longer holding sway in the over-all contest between the two programs.

South Carolina's season finishes 22-7 in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. Still a strong season overall.......

 

[The Coast is Clear]

The scoring in college tennis has completely changed in the last 10-15 years. The doubles now only pay one set, and the three matches count for only one point. They still play six singles, best 2 of three sets, but the game scoring is no ad. All designed to speed up the game. Tennis was way ahead of baseball.

One other rule change. The ball is in play on a let serve because the returners were calling let serves on aces when they were not lets. So, the rules folks fixed that problem.

Gamecocks had a very good season. They deserved a top 8 finish. Texas is just better. Texas has won its three NCAA matches by 4-0 scores. They have not lost an individual match. They are darn good. We are, too. Just not that good.

 

[Viennacock]

The scoring in college tennis has completely changed in the last 10-15 years. The doubles now only pay one set, and the three matches count for only one point. They still play six singles, best 2 of three sets, but the game scoring is no ad. All designed to speed up the game. Tennis was way ahead of baseball.

One other rule change. The ball is in play on a let serve because the returners were calling let serves on aces when they were not lets. So, the rules folks fixed that problem.

Gamecocks had a very good season. They deserved a top 8 finish. Texas is just better. Texas has won its three NCAA matches by 4-0 scores. They have not lost an individual match. They are darn good. We are, too. Just not that good.

The other rule that is crazy in college is that the coaches can walk out between points and coach the players. Fans can actually cheer between points.

Texas was clearly the better team but most of the matches were very competitive. Toby Samuel beat the #1 player in the country in the 1st set. He was down 2-3 in the 2nd. Would have been an interesting finish had they played it out. The future is bright.