PHILADELPHIA – Coming off a 6-1 win over Old Dominion in their dual match season-opener last Saturday, the University of Pennsylvania men's tennis team head to South Carolina for a four-team ITA Kickoff Weekend event this Saturday and Sunday. Penn will face #8 South Carolina Saturday, then either NC State or Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) on Sunday.

Previewing Penn
The Rich Bonfiglio era got off to a strong start as Penn downed Old Dominion Saturday at the Hecht Tennis Center, 6-1. The Edoardo Graziani/Kevin Zhu and Aditya Gupta/Harsh Parikh pairings picked up doubles wins to give the Quakers a 1-0 lead. Graziani, Zhu, Manfredi Graziani and Baylor Sai all picked up straight-set singles wins and Gupta added a three-set win for the Quakers.

Penn at #8 South Carolina – Saturday, 11 a.m.
Series Information
All-time series: South Carolina leads 1-0
Last match: February 19, 2006 (South Carolina, 4-2)

Previewing South Carolina
The Gamecocks are 3-0 in 2023, including a 4-3 win over #17 North Carolina last Friday, running their home winning streak to 21, dating back to April 9, 2021. Overall, South Carolina is 104-133 under 13^th year head coach Josh Goffi, a 59,3 win percentage.
 
Saturday could feature a top 50 singles matchup in the ITA rankings between #15 Toby Samuel and #48 (Edoardo) Graziani, as well as a top 10 doubles matchup between the #1-ranked team of Samuel and Connor Thomson, and the #7 team of Graziani and Zhu.

Penn vs. #RV NC State or VCU – Sunday, TBD
All-time series: NC State: NC State leads 4-1
Last match – NC State: February 1, 2020 (NC State, 4-0)
 
All-time series: VCU: VCU leads 3-1
Last match – VCU: May 6, 2022 (VCU, 4-3)

Previewing NC State
The Wolfpack are 2-2 for the season, most recently dropping a 4-3 match to Harvard last Friday, losing the day's final, winner-take-all match.
 
NC State has two doubles teams ranked in the ITA's top 50, with Rafa Izquierdo Luque Joseph Wayand currently sitting at #21, and Martins Rocens / Fons Van Sambeek coming in at #38.
 
Previewing VCU
The Rams picked up four wins last weekend, downing Temple and Richmond on Friday, then knocking off James Madison and Morgan State on Sunday.
 
Matisse Bobichon was ranked #40 in the latest ITA singles rankings and #29 in the doubles rankings with playing partner Rayane Stable.