Feb. 20, 2014
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COLUMBIA, S.C. — The No. 33-ranked South Carolina women’s tennis team has a busy weekend ahead to wrap up non-conference play with a doubleheader Friday against South Carolina State and North Florida, and then No. 55 William & Mary coming to Columbia, S.C., on Sunday. The Gamecocks face S.C. State at 9 a.m. and UNF at 5 p.m. at the USC Field House. Carolina hosts William & Mary at 11 a.m. at Carolina Tennis Center.
South Carolina suffered a 5-2 setback in its last outing to No. 12-ranked Clemson in Columbia on Feb. 16. The Gamecocks dropped the doubles point and fell behind on every court in singles before charging back, but their rally fell short. Meghan Blevins picked up a win for South Carolina on court four and No. T-69 Katerina Popova snagged a win at two singles.
For the season, a pair of freshmen lead the Gamecocks in total victories in singles play with Caroline Dailey owning a 12-6 record and No. 112 Brigit Folland owning a 12-8 mark. A trio of Gamecocks are right on their heels in the win column with Elixane Lechemia, Popova and Ximena Siles Luna all posting 11 wins thus far. In dual matches, Popova leads the way with an impressive 6-1 record that includes a 4-0 slate at No. 2 singles. Blevins has been equally good with a 5-1 record and Lechemia is 5-2.
In doubles, Blevins and Lechemia have comprised South Carolina’s top duo the entire spring. They are 4-2 overall in duals at the No. 1 position and are 8-4 for the season. Folland and Popova have been a successful venture so far as well, holding down court two in undefeated fashion at 4-0. Head coach Kevin Epley has used several different combos at No. 3 doubles and has most recently been teaming Siles Luna with Dominika Kanakova, who is just getting back into the lineup after battling injuries to start the year. Siles Luna and Kanakova are 1-1 in the three matches they have played together.
South Carolina State enters Friday’s match having played just two matches this year and the Bulldogs are 1-1 after losing to Charleston Southern and beating Savannah College of Art & Design. The Ospreys have also played just two matches so far, beating Florida A&M and UCF. North Florida faces Troy today before playing Carolina on Friday. William & Mary has played a tough schedule with four matches against top-20 opponents and is 3-7 through its first 10. The Tribe does sport the nation’s No. 10-ranked doubles team of Maria Belaya and Jeltje Loomans. Both players also have national singles rankings with Belaya at T-78th and Loomans at 83rd. William & Mary will play College of Charleston on Saturday in Columbia before facing the Gamecocks the next day.
South Carolina and South Carolina State have only met twice in the schools’ histories. The Gamecocks defeated the Bulldogs by 7-0 scores in 2007 and 2011. North Florida is a team South Carolina has never played. The Gamecocks and Tribe of William & Mary have some history together, with both teams claiming four wins over each other. Last year, the Gamecocks took a tough 4-3 loss to the Tribe in Williamsburg, Va. South Carolina has not played William & Mary in Columbia since 1989, as the past four match-ups prior to last year’s all came on neutral sites.
The Gamecocks will open up SEC play next weekend hosting Missouri on Feb. 28 at 5 p.m. and No. 10 Texas A&M on March 2 at 1:30 p.m. Both matches are set to take place at Carolina Tennis Center.
