Another year, another Men’s National Team Indoor Championship in the books! With all the thrilling matches and captivating storylines from the weekend, it’s safe to say that this 2023 edition had it all. The SEC, filled with oozing talent, boisterous energy, and a rich history in college tennis, played a key role in the events of the tournament, with five teams from the conference in Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida all in attendance vying for the crown. So, we’ll be recapping all the SEC action from this past weekend while taking stock of how these teams stack up against each other, as well as looking ahead to what’s in store in the coming weeks.
Now while the Women’s ITA Indoors Rules dictate that no intra-conference matches will be played in round 1, the men’s tournament has no such rule, which wouldn’t be considered great news for SEC fans rooting for those teams to advance as far as possible. Right away in the Round of 16, we had two different matches where two in-conference teams drew each other, and faced off for the right to progress to the Quarterfinals. Detailed breakdowns of those two matches are provided down below:
Recapped SEC Matchups
Georgia def. South Carolina 4-3
In a tightly contested matchup between two SEC heavyweights, it was Georgia who emerged the victor after erasing a 3-1 deficit to the Gamecocks. South Carolina took the early lead by winning a tightly contested doubles point after Jake Beasley and James Story clinched it at the #2 doubles spot with a 7-6(2) win against Georgia’s Philip Henning and Teodor Giusca. At the start of singles play, the Gamecocks came out swinging, with respective straight-set wins for Toby Samuel and Connor Thomson at the top two singles spots over Ethan Quinn and Henning.
In parallel, it was Miguel Perez Peña at #6 singles who got things rolling for the Bulldogs with a straight-set win of his own. From 3-1 down, Blake Croyder and Giusca came roaring back with wins at the 4 and 5 spots. At 3-3, all eyes were on Georgia’s Trent Bryde and South Carolina’s Raphael Lambling, locked into a 3rd set to decide the winner of the dual match. Ultimately, it was a clutch-serving Bryde who came up with the goods to win 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
Following his win, the resurgent Bryde said, “This win means a lot, to get a win against a tough South Carolina team in this tournament means a lot to us, especially with it being the last semester for a lot of the guys on the team. You could just see on everyone’s faces that we were all just beyond thrilled.”
Kentucky def. Florida 4-1
With one more in-conference matchup for two SEC teams in the Round of 16, #2-seeded Kentucky opened its campaign with a victory over #15-seeded Florida. After the duo of Liam Draxl and Jaden Weeks partnered together for the first time this season and grabbed the win at #3 doubles, it was Joshua Lapadat and JJ Mercer at the #2 doubles spot defeating No. 15 Nirundorn/Tokac to secure the doubles point for the Wildcats. Draxl opened things up at the top of the singles lineup with a dominant 6-0, 6-0 victory against Axel Nefve in a match that lasted approximately 45 minutes.
Once again, it was Lapadat who came through for Kentucky as the junior took down the talented Jonah Braswell in straight-sets, 6-4, 6-1. Expectedly, the Florida Gators continued to battle, with Togan Tokac claiming a comeback victory at No. 5 singles over freshman Jaden Weekes, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. It was Charlelie Cosnet who put the finishing touches on the dual match with a 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory at #6 singles. Both remaining matches at the #2 and #6 singles lines were left unfinished early in the decider after each matchup saw Florida and Kentucky split the first two sets.
Despite the fightback, Kentucky proved to simply have too much strength and depth in their lineup for this Florida team to come up with 4 singles wins against them without obtaining the crucial doubles point.
Individual Team Outlook
Kentucky
After picking up wins over both Florida and USC to reach the final four, Kentucky solidified its status as a tier one contender as they head into the heart of the spring season. Even their loss against eventual back-to-back Champions TCU came in a very testy match that ended in a 4-2 scoreline. Freshman Charlelie Cosnet, who went 2-1 over the course of the weekend, earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors for his efforts during the Kentucky run.
However, the real story that emerged was the success of Joshua Lapadat, who went undefeated in singles play this weekend and currently boasts an impressive 9-2 record in dual matches this year. The Wildcats now sit at #5 in the ITA Rankings with a 12-1 overall record and will look to continue their fine form as they approach the start of SEC play.
South Carolina
Following a tough loss to Georgia, South Carolina would have been disappointed not to advance further in the main draw, but the team still managed to come out of the weekend with two wins against quality opposition in Baylor and UNC. In fact, the win against Baylor marked head coach Josh Goffi’s 200th career win as head coach at South Carolina, a testament to what he’s built over the years.
The Gamecocks dominated Baylor in a 4-0 contest by winning the doubles point and notching straight-set wins at 1, 4, and 5 singles. While closing out their weekend playing UNC, the Gamecocks took home a 4-3 victory over the Tarheels for the second time this season. After losing the doubles point, South Carolina was able to find four wins in singles on the backs of Toby Samuel at 1, Connor Thomson at 2, Raphael Lambling at 3, and Casey Hoole at 5. Now there are some questions at the bottom order of this lineup but Toby Samuel and Connor Thomson may just be the best one-two punch in college tennis right now. South Carolina is currently slotted in at 6 in the ITA rankings, and despite the loss to Georgia, looks like a team that can go toe-to-toe with the best schools in the country.
Georgia
For Georgia, it felt like they were in dire need of some good results heading into this weekend. Coming off of a tough and unexpected loss to Illinois, Georgia entered the event with a 4-4 record for the season. After securing two top-ten wins and battling hard in their eventual quarterfinal loss to TCU, it feels like the Bulldogs might be starting to find their legs. With the comeback against South Carolina and the 4-2 win against a seriously dangerous opponent in USC, this team will believe that they can truly compete with anyone.
Most importantly for them, Ethan Quinn was able to clinch the match against the Trojans, with a win over Stefan Dostanic. That will give the Redshirt Freshman some real confidence following his turbulent start to the dual match season after his phenomenal fall that saw him reach the top of the ITA Rankings. The Bulldogs now sit at #8 in the rankings and though there are still concerns on whether this team can be a tier one contender, they’ve definitely taken steps towards doing so.
Tennessee
The Volunteers were the only team in the bracket that didn’t draw a fellow SEC foe in the Round of 16. Unfortunately for them, they ran into defending NCAA Champions Virginia. However, Tennessee battled hard in a 4-3 loss. In a race to capture the Doubles point, Tennessee came out on top with respective wins at lines 2 and 3 by Emile Hudd/Shunsuke Mitsui and Blaise Bicknell/Angel Diaz. During singles play, Tennessee dropped lines 2, 3, and 5 in straight sets, but managed to get key wins at lines 1 and 6 from Johannus Monday and Angel Diaz. Ultimately, they came up short as Emile Hudd lost in three sets to Virginia’s Ryan Goetz.
Following the loss to Virginia, Tennessee bounced back with a nice 4-3 victory over Stanford and a 4-1 win vs. Illinois. Tennessee, at #12 in the rankings, is beginning to show its talent level after a slow start to this season. They now seem to be trending upwards, and if Shunsuke Mitsui can find his game as this team heads into SEC play, then they can be very dangerous.
Florida
In what can only be described as a solid weekend for Florida, the defending SEC Champs went 1-2, with a 4-2 win over Baylor, along with losses to Kentucky and North Carolina. After losing so many key pieces from previous years, this new-look Florida team is still competitive and scrappy against anyone. Axel Nefve has had some struggles at the number 1 spot, and it feels like this Florida team still lacks a couple of pieces that would deem them contenders, but they remain dangerous floaters with great coaching and bring a certain energy to each and every match that can spell trouble for teams.
At number 15 in the rankings, this is a team that will beat the teams they’re supposed to beat, and continue to keep things close with the teams ranked above them as we move outdoors.
Upcoming Marquee Matchup
#5 Kentucky vs. #6 South Carolina
To kick off the start of Conference Play, South Carolina heads down to Kentucky for an enticing battle with plenty on the line.
Where: Lexington, KY
When: Thurs. March 2nd, 2023
What time: 5:00 pm EST
Players to watch for in this matchup: #6 Toby Samuel (SC), #7 Connor Thomson (SC), #23 Joshua Lapadat (UK), #31 Alafia Ayeni (UK), #27 Liam Draxl (UK)
Stay tuned for weeky SEC coverage coming from Archit all season long!
