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Women’s Tennis Hosts Pair of Top-20 Teams
Women's Tennis  . 

Women’s Tennis Hosts Pair of Top-20 Teams

Columbia, S.C. – ­No. 22 South Carolina women’s tennis will play its first home SEC matches of the season this weekend at the Carolina Tennis Center with a pair of top-20 teams joining the Gamecocks in Columbia. South Carolina will take on No. 16 Tennessee on Friday at 5:00 p.m. and will face No. 10 Georgia on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

Admission to both matches will be free with gates opening one hour prior to first serve. Fan parking is available at meters surrounding the athletic village, subject to City of Columbia parking fees. Free parking is also available at the Carolina Indoor Tennis Center located at 523 Superior Street.

Gamecock Notables

  • South Carolina is ranked No. 22 in the latest ITA team rankings and has been ranked as high as No. 14 this season. The team is 8-3 overall this season and 0-2 against SEC opponents. The Gamecocks have a perfect 6-0 home record.
  • There are three Gamecocks in the ITA singles rankings – No. 8 Ayana Akli, No. 10 Sarah Hamner, and No. 125 Shahar Biran.
  • Akli is 19-7 this season and 6-3 in dual play, all from the top of the lineup. She has ten ranked wins this season with three of them in the top-25.
  • Hamner leads the team with a 20-6 overall record this season and 7-1 mark in dual play. She has 12 ranked wins and has won eight of her last nine completed matches.
  • Biran is 10-11 this season and 5-4 from the third spot in the lineup.
  • In doubles, Akli is ranked twice – at No. 30 with Olympe Lancelot and at No. 41 with Hamner.
  • Akli and Lancelot are 7-2 together this season and 4-2 from the top of the doubles lineup.
  • Akli and Hamner are 5-5 this season and 2-1 in dual play.

Scouting the Volunteers

  • Tennessee is currently ranked No. 16 by the ITA, the teams highest ranking of the season. They are 10-2 overall and a perfect 4-0 when playing on the road this season. The team enters the weekend on a five-match win streak that includes a pair of conference victories.
  • In the ITA singles rankings, Sofia Cabezas sits at No. 27 and Catherine Aulia sits at No. 121
  • Cabezas leads the team from the top of the lineup where she is 7-2. Aulia is 8-3 this season and has had stints at the Nos. 2, 3, and 4 positions.
  • There are four Volunteer pairs in the ITA doubles rankings with Cabezas and Esther Adeshina the highest ranked at No. 23.
  • The Vols are 22-6 in dual doubles matches this season.

Scouting the Bulldogs

  • Georgia is ranked No. 10 in the ITA team rankings and has a 7-3 overall record with a 2-0 mark in conference play. The Bulldogs enter the weekend on a five-match win streak and will face Florida before taking on the Gamecocks.
  • There are five Bulldogs in the ITA singles rankings with No. 25 Alexandra Vecic being the highest ranked. She is followed by No. 29 Dasha Vidmanova, No. 68 Mell Reasco, No. 78 Mai Nirundorn, and No. 98 Anastasia Lopata.
  • In the doubles rankings, Vidmanova and Aysegul Mert come in at No. 8 in the country with Nirundorn and Guillermina Grant ranked No. 24.
  • South Carolina and Georgia faced already this season during the second round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Clemson with then-No. 4 Georgia winning 4-1.

Series History versus Tennessee

  • Tennessee leads the all-time series 28-23.
  • The two teams first faced in 1978 with South Carolina winning 6-3. The Gamecocks won the first eight meetings in the series.
  • South Carolina holds the longest win streak of the series with eight wins from 1978-1983.
  • The two teams have traded wins over the last four meetings. The last team to win more than once in a row was South Carolina with five wins from 2015-2019 that came on the heels of a Tennessee five-match win streak from 2010-2014.
  • Tennessee’s last win in Columbia was a 4-2 result in 2013.

Series History versus Georgia

  • Georgia leads the all-time series 53-17.
  • The two teams first faced in 1974 with South Carolina winning 5-4. Georgia went on to win the next three meetings.
  • Georgia has won each of the last five meetings.
  • South Carolina’s last win of the series was a 4-3 victory at the SEC Championships in 2019
  • The Gamecocks last win over Georgia in Columbia was in 2002.

For all the latest South Carolina women’s tennis information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockWTennis).

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