Gamecocks Head To California For ITA All-Americans

Oct. 4, 2017

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina women’s tennis is sending a trio of Gamecocks to the ITA All-American Championship in Los Angeles, Calif., starting Oct. 5 and running through Oct. 8. The doubles tandem of Hadley Berg and Paige Cline and Mia Horvit for singles will represent Carolina at the prestigious tournament.

The main draw selections and matchups will be settled later this evening.

This marks the second-straight year Berg and Cline have competed together in the tournament. The duo reached the main draw consolation quarterfinals before ultimately being knocked out of the tournament. Their appearance in the doubles main draw marked the first time since 2000 any Gamecock duo had showed.

Horvit, a sophomore, will be making her first appearance in the ITA All-American Championships’ main draw.

“Traveling across the country is always a challenge,” head coach Kevin Epley said.” You have to deal with jetlag so we always leave a day earlier to try to get the girls used it. The air is a little thinner, so it rewards more aggressive play. We’ve got to make sure the girls stay hydrated. But we like to get them there early so by time the match comes around they’re ready.”

Berg and Cline have competed for the Gamecocks in two tournaments thus far while this will be Horvit’s first tournament of the fall for Carolina.

“We’re excited to go,” Berg said. “California is always fun. We didn’t get the result we wanted last year so we’re a little extra motivated this year. We’ve definitely learned a lot in the last year so hopefully we can go out there this year and improve on it.”

This will be a homecoming experience for Berg and Cline as both are California natives.

To keep up with all the action in California, follow the Gamecocks on social media at Twitter (@GamecockWTN), Facebook (Gamecock Women’s Tennis) or Instagram (gamecockwtn).