Women's Tennis Announces 2021 Spring Schedule

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina women’s tennis head coach Kevin Epley announced his team’s 2021 spring schedule Wednesday. The Gamecocks have eight non-conference matchups on tap to go along with their 13 SEC contests, and could potentially face more opponents during the regular season should they advance out of the ITA Kickoff Weekend to the National Women’s Team Indoor Championship.

“The 2020 spring season had such an unfortunate end, particularly because we felt like we were finally hitting our stride as a team,” Epley said. “We are fired up to get back to the courts and get back at it and prove we are a top national team to contend with. We’ve got a lot of work to do and are anxious to make the most out of this opportunity!”

South Carolina gets its season underway Jan. 16 hosting a doubleheader against ETSU and Coastal Carolina. The Gamecocks then host North Carolina State on Jan. 20 before playing at least four consecutive matches away from Carolina Tennis Center.

Georgia Tech is one of seven hosts for the ITA Kickoff Weekend, and the Gamecocks will take on the Yellow Jackets in the first round Jan. 23 in Atlanta. Their next match the following day will come against either Duke or Michigan. If South Carolina wins both matches in Atlanta it will head to Stillwater, Okla., for the National Team Indoors at Oklahoma State’s Greenwood Tennis Center over Feb. 5-7.

A pair of ACC road matches await Carolina following the Kickoff Weekend with Clemson on Jan. 28 and Virginia two days later. South Carolina’s non-conference slate concludes with a home tilt versus Furman on Feb. 10.

The SEC portion of the schedule kicks off at Auburn on Feb. 19 and then continues at Tuscaloosa, Ala., where the Gamecocks will take on Alabama on Feb. 21. South Carolina welcomes Texas A&M and LSU to Columbia for its first home league matches Feb. 26 and 28. The Gamecocks began the 2020 SEC season by defeating all four of those teams and were the only 4-0 team in league play when the season was canceled.

South Carolina continues SEC competition at Tennessee and Georgia on March 5 and 7 before coming back home to take on Arkansas and Missouri on March 12 and 14. After hitting the road to face Mississippi State and Ole Miss on March 25 and 27, Carolina finishes out the regular season with three straight homes matches against Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Florida on April 1, 3 and 11.

The SEC Tournament is set to take place April 21-25 in Tuscaloosa. The NCAA Championships are scheduled for May 20-29 at the USTA National Campus (Collegiate Center) in Orlando, Fla.

South Carolina had an 8-4 overall record in addition to its unblemished 4-0 SEC mark when the 2020 season was canceled. The Gamecocks were ranked No. 19 in the nation as well and appeared headed for their 26th consecutive NCAA appearance. Carolina has reached the round of 16 in each of the past three NCAA Championships and advanced to the quarterfinals in 2019.