South Carolina Tennis: Gamecocks remarkable season ends in Elite Eight

The South Carolina tennis team just wrapped up one of the best seasons in the history of the program. The Gamecocks were nationally ranked in the polls all season and had several players who spent significant time ranked highly in the national individual rankings, as well.

In a very satisfying-to-Gamecock-fans way, the tennis squad demolished Clemson in a sweep in Clemson early in the season and beat several nationally ranked teams (including Ohio State, Kentucky, North Carolina (two times), Wake Forest, Baylor, Alabama, LSU, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Florida, Tennessee, and Florida State.

The Gamecocks’ remarkable season led them to a top-8 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The round of 64, round of 32, and Sweet 16 all passed by with the South Carolina tennis team advancing with relative ease each time. An Elite Eight matchup with the Tournament’s top-overall seed Texas Longhorns awaited the Gamecocks in the national quarterfinal match. It would be the first time Carolina would play in the national quarterfinal since 1989 when the Gamecocks advanced to the Final Four and the national semifinal.

Unfortunately, the Longhorns were selected as the top seed in the NCAA Tournament for good reason, and the burnt orange and white bested the garnet and black Gamecocks to claim the up-for-grabs spot in the Final Four.

South Carolina tennis coach Josh Goffi and his team had a phenomenal 2023 spring season, but they have a chance to be even better in 2024. Only Raphael Lambling and Jake Beasley are seniors, so, feasibly, the rest of the team could return next year. Toby Samuel and Connor Thomson were at the top of the ladder all season as juniors (and spent most of the year as the #1 doubles pairing in the country), and high-level performers James Story and Casey Hoole have more eligibility as a junior and sophomore, respectively.