No. 45 Men’s Tennis Set to Host No. 52 Vanderbilt, No. 24 South Carolina

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The No. 45 Arkansas men’s tennis team (12-4, 0-1) hosts No. 52 Vanderbilt (9-4, 0-1) on Friday, March 8, at 5:30 p.m. and No. 24 South Carolina (6-7, 0-2) on Sunday, March 10, at noon for its SEC home-opening weekend.

The Razorbacks split their doubleheader this past weekend versus No. 5 Tennessee and Tennessee Tech. In the first match, Stefanos Savva grabbed the only point for the Hogs against the Vols, defeating No. 82 Filip Pieczonka in straight sets for his first ranked win this season. Arkansas rebounded in the second match by taking the doubles point and claiming three singles courts en route to a 4-0 victory over Tennessee Tech.

The No. 52 Commodores have started the year 9-4 and opened SEC play with a loss to No. 7 Kentucky last Sunday. Freshman No. 57 Danil Panarin and senior Jeremie Casabon are tied for the team lead with 10 singles wins each while primarily playing at the No. 1 and No. 5 positions, respectively. The Vanderbilt lineup also features fifth-year Joubert Klopper and sophomore Nathan Cox on courts two and three. In doubles, the duo of Cox and Casabon head the lineup with a 5-5 record at the No. 1 position while Klopper is 9-0 on court two alongside Panarin and junior Michael Ross.

No. 24 South Carolina is coming off an 0-2 weekend against No. 25 LSU and No. 12 Texas A&M. The Gamecocks are led by senior No. 49 Toby Samuel and junior No. 96 Casey Hoole, who have played on courts one and two this spring. Senior James Story and freshmen Sean Daryabeigi and Jelani Sarr also highlight the South Carolina singles lineup. No. 10 Hoole and Samuel have posted eight doubles wins each this season and hold a 7-1 record together at the No. 1 position.

Live coverage of both matches will be provided by Cracked Racquets as part of the SEC CrossCourt whip-around broadcast streamed on SEC Network+. Admission is free, live stats & video links for both matches are available on the men’s tennis schedule page.