13th-Ranked South Carolina Women’s Tennis To Learn NCAA Fate Thursday

May 1, 2002

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The nationally 13th-ranked South Carolina women’s tennis team will learn its destination for the NCAA Tournament Thursday evening at 7:00 p.m. when the 2002 NCAA Division I Women’s Tennis Selection Show airs live on the Internet at www.ncaachampionships.com.

All regional winners from action May 10-12 advance to the NCAA Championships and the Round of 16 in Palo Alto, Calif., and the campus of Stanford University. Action there runs May 16-25.

The Gamecocks (16-7), finalists in the SEC Tournament two weeks ago after a stunning upset of then No. 1 ranked Georgia, stand as a legitimate candidate to serve as host for one of 16 on campus sites for first and second round action. USC last served as host in 1999, which also marks the last time the garnet and black advanced to the ‘Sweet 16.’

In the new Omni Hotels Collegiate Tennis Rankings released Wednesday morning by the ITA USC stands 13th, down one spot from last week. Highlighting other teams ranked near USC are Southern Cal, Cal, Tennessee and Northwestern. SEC Tournament champion Florida overtook Stanford for the No. 1 spot in the poll, with Georgia holding its No. 3 spot and Vanderbilt remaining at No. 6.

The 64-person individual tournament field is announced Thursday as well. USC senior Jennifer Radman, ranked No. 48, stands the best chance of any Gamecock of being selected for individual competition. In doubles, USC’s top two teams of 18th-ranked Jennifer Radman and Kathy Boyanovich along with 40th-ranked Lynn-Yin Tan and Jodi Kenoyer both have solid resumes for selection into the doubles field.

ITA National Team Rankings

Rank Avg School

1 134.62 University of Florida

2 134.18 Stanford University

3 130.22 Univ. of Georgia

4 120 Duke University

5 116.91 UCLA

6 116.49 Vanderbilt University

7 115.25 UNC Chapel Hill

8 104.21 Wake Forest University

9 98.98 Univ. of Texas at Austin

10 98.27 Arizona State University