Gamecocks Head to Missouri, Arkansas for Key SEC Matches

March 12, 2015

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The 36th-ranked South Carolina women’s tennis team has some key SEC matches this weekend at Missouri’s Mizzou Tennis Complex on Friday at 6 p.m. ET and at No. 44 Arkansas’ Billingsley Tennis Center on Sunday at 1 p.m.

South Carolina (8-5, 1-3 SEC) suffered a pair of defeats on the road at Texas A&M and then-No. 46 LSU both by 5-2 scores last week. Against the Aggies, South Carolina dropped a close doubles point with the deciding match coming on court two in a tiebreaker. The Gamecocks snagged a couple of victories in singles with Elixane Lechemia upsetting then-No. 54 Saska Gavrilovska at the top position and Hadley Berg grabbing an upset of her own versus then-No. 113 Stefania Hristov at No. 5 singles.

Carolina took the doubles point from LSU with wins at one and two but only mustered one victory in singles against the Tigers. Ximena Siles Luna registered the lone win at No. 6 singles with a third set super tiebreak win. Lechemia and Meghan Blevins lost their matches in three sets to the Tigers.

Lechemia’s win against Gavrilovska helped propel her 47 spots in the latest singles rankings to No. 74. Blevins and Brigit Folland reentered the doubles rankings with a No. 45 billing. The duo is a stellar 21-4 this season and has spent most of the spring playing No. 2 doubles. Berg and Caroline Dailey also stayed in the rankings, moving up five spots to No. 53.

Arkansas (11-6, 1-2 SEC) lost a pair of away matches last weekend to No. 16 Ole Miss and No. 41 Mississippi State. The Razorbacks took a 7-0 loss to the Rebels and were 4-1 losers to the Bulldogs. Arkansas has one ranked singles player in Juliya Lysa at No. 117. She boasts a 6-1 record at No. 1 singles and is 13-2 overall in dual matches. Mia Jurasic has put together an impressive spring thus far as well with a 10-4 mark.

Mizzou (8-7, 0-3 SEC) ended its long stretch away from home with a contest at Ole Miss on Sunday afternoon. The host Rebels had the upper hand throughout the day, as they defeated the Tigers 7-0. The Tigers suffered a 4-0 loss at Mississippi State two days prior and were beaten 6-1 by Arkansas on the opening weekend of SEC play. Missouri has lost five of its last six matches with the lone winning coming versus Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Kelli Hine leads Mizzou this spring with an 8-7 record playing the No. 1 singles position.

South Carolina and Missouri have a history that is limited to when the Tigers joined the SEC. The Gamecocks are 3-0 against the Tigers after winning a pair of 4-3 matches in 2013 and a 6-1 victory in Columbia, S.C., last season to start conference play. The Gamecocks hold a strong advantage in the all-time series with Arkansas, having won 22 of the 27 all-time match-ups. Last season, South Carolina posted a 4-0 victory over the Razorbacks at Carolina Tennis Center.

After the Gamecocks conclude their second consecutive trip west of the Mississippi, they return home to host Mississippi State on Friday, March 20, at 5 p.m. and Ole Miss on Sunday, March 22, at 1 p.m.