After forging through two seasons with a lineup dominated by underclassmen, the South Carolina women’s tennis team learned in 2001 the value of a veteran lineup and solid leadership. The 28th season of Carolina tennis saw the Gamecocks virtually rewrite the school record book as eight career or single-season milestones were reached. The Gamecocks turned in one of the greatest doubles seasons of all-time enroute to their seventh consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, the longest such streak for any women’s program at USC.
Along the way, the Gamecocks as a unit were an impressive 15-9 overall and 7-4 in the rugged SEC, good for a fifth place league finish. Ranked among the nation’s Top 25 all season, USC’s No. 21 final ranking marked the 14th Top 25 finish in the past 15 seasons for the Carolina program. One wonders what might have been for this Carolina team had fortunes been reversed and the ball bounced their way in the six matches that ended 4-3, of which USC came up on the short end four times.
Carolina opened the season with a bang, claiming four early wins over Furman, Middle Tennessee, N.C. State and Charleston. The Gamecocks won 33 of their first 36 singles and doubles matches to lead into the start of the SEC campaign. After a close loss at No. 4 Florida in the conference opener, USC embarked on an eight day, four match span with dates against Wake Forest, Clemson, Georgia and North Carolina.
The Gamecocks dropped agonizing 4-3 decisions to Wake, Georgia and UNC. Against both the Demon Deacons and Tar Heels, USC lost controversial third-set tiebreaks on the road that determined the final outcome. Against the defending national champions, USC overcame a two-hour rain delay and relocation due to darkness to rally and stay right with the second-ranked Bulldogs, but Carolina was unable to convert on two match points as the near upset slipped away. However, amidst the narrow losses, Carolina showed its poise and character with a 6-1 trouncing at long-time rival Clemson, claiming their eighth consecutive regular season win over the Tigers.
Knowing that they had stayed with some of the top teams in the nation, a refocused and inspired Gamecock squad followed the North Carolina match by jumping back into SEC action at Alabama with an impressive 5-2 win, moving the all-time series to 7-4. That win started a streak of seven wins in eight matches for the Gamecocks, lifting USC three spots in the polls to No. 23. On March 11th, USC recorded a non-conference win over ACC rival Georgia Tech, 6-1, and followed it with a second road win, downing Auburn 5-2. Standing at 8-4, the Gamecocks traveled to Fayetteville, Ark., and upended the Lady ‘Backs 4-2, running the winning streak to four matches.
After a disappointing home loss to Texas Christian, the Gamecocks faced more tough SEC matches on the horizon. USC, who had beaten Ole Miss just twice in 13 all-time meetings, held off the No. 29 Rebels 4-3 by winning two singles matches in the third set. Mississippi State (6-1) and Kentucky (4-3) fell in line as Carolina’s next two victims as the Gamecocks improved to 12-5 overall, 6-2 in the SEC. All told, Carolina had three consecutive perfect SEC weekends, winning six straight conference matches for the first time ever. The previous high for Carolina wins in conference matches was four, accomplished three times (1994, 95, ’00).
Following losses at Tennessee and Vanderbilt, USC closed the regular season with an impressive 5-2 win over LSU in Columbia, capping off a seven-win SEC regular season and a dominant 7-2 home record on the year.
At the SEC Tournament in Starkville, Miss., USC entered as the fifth seed and faced 12th-seeded Auburn in the opening round. The Gamecocks overcame a sluggish start to down the Tigers 4-1 to advance to the quarterfinals. The win was Carolina’s fifth straight in tournament-opening matches. The Gamecocks lost a rematch with Georgia, 4-1, in the quarterfinal matchup.
Receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA Regionals for the seventh consecutive season, Carolina was shipped out west to Tempe, Ariz., and Arizona State University. In the opening round, Carolina had no trouble with old Metro Conference foe Florida State, beating the Seminoles for the tenth time in 11 tries. That win set up a showdown with No. 12 Arizona State for a spot in the final 16 at the NCAA Championships. Carolina jumped out to a 1-0 lead after winning the doubles point, and Carolina secured the No. 4 seed point behind Lynn-Yin Tan’s victory over Faye DeVera. However, the Sun Devils rallied to claim the match, 4-2, ending a historic season in the annals of Gamecock women’s tennis.
Highlighting the records that tumbled in 2001 was Leigh Eichelberger becoming the school’s all-time leader in doubles wins. The Center Valley, Penn., native passed Helen Crook’s 78-win mark early in the season at Arkansas, finishing with an astounding 86 career wins. Along the way, Eichelberger picked up SEC Player of the Week honors for the week of Feb. 27 – March 5. Eichelberger teamed with Lynn-Yin Tan to surpass the mark for career doubles wins by one team, 45, staking claim to the honor of best USC doubles team ever. The duo won 60 career matches.
Additionally, Head Coach Arlo Elkins secured his 275th career win at Arkansas, Tan and Tamara Sutton cracked the 70 career win plateau, and Kathy Boyanovich won 10 three-set matches, a new single season high.
The week of April 6 saw two USC doubles team ranked in the Top 25 at the same time. Jennifer Radman/Boyanovich checked-in at No. 21 while Eichelberger/Tan were ranked No. 25. Stanford and Tennessee were the only other schools to claim such an accomplishment that week, proving the national merit of the USC doubles lineup. The individual accomplishments were so great that they nearly overshadowed the amazing doubles production and team success over the course of the season.
In doubles action, the Gamecocks claimed the valuable point in an incredible 20 of 24 matches, going 53-17 in dual action. Among the doubles victims were No. 2 Georgia, No. 19 North Carolina, No. 20 Wake Forest and No. 24 LSU. USC’s doubles teams won 12 matches against ranked opponents, also a school record.
Date Opponent W/L Score2/6 Furman W 6-12/8 Middle Tenn. W 7-02/10 N.C. State W 5-22/20 Charleston W 7-02/24 at Florida L 1-62/27 at Wake Forest L 3-43/3 at Clemson W 6-13/4 Georgia L 3-43/6 at N. Carolina L 3-43/10 at Alabama W 5-23/11 at Georgia Tech W 6-13/13 at Auburn W 5-23/16 at Arkansas W 4-23/18 Texas Christian L 3-43/23 at Ole Miss W 4-33/25 at Mississippi St.W 6-14/1 Kentucky W 4-34/6 at Vanderbilt L 0-64/8 at Tennessee L 1-64/11 LSU W 5-24/19 Auburn$ W 4-14/20 Georgia$ L 1-45/12 Florida State@ W 4-25/12 Arizona State@ L 2-4$ -- SEC Tournament@ -- NCAA Regionals
