May 12, 2005

The University of South Carolina women’s tennis team will open up the 2005 NCAA Tournament on Friday at 2 p.m. against the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Athens, Ga. The Gamecocks, 14-8 overall and ranked 22nd in the country, are making their 11th consecutive trip to the “Big Dance” which ranks as the 11th longest streak in the country.

The match with Nebraska is the first between the two schools since the 1985 season when Carolina took a 6-3 victory over the Cornhuskers. Nebraska enters the match on Friday with a ranking of 38th in the country and an 18-3 record overall. The winner of the USC-Nebraska match will meet the winner of the Georgia-Quinnipiac match on Saturday at 4 p.m.

The Gamecocks have never faced Quinnipiac while the Bulldogs took a 4-0 victory against USC on April 3rd. The last win for the Gamecocks against UGA came in the 2002 SEC Tournament when Carolina upset the then ranked #1 Georgia Bulldogs to advance to the SEC Finals. Georgia is the No. 1 seed in the Athens Regional and the No. 8 national seed in the 2005 NCAA Tournament. South Carolina is the No. 2 seed in the Athens Regional with Nebraska, and Quinnipiac being the three and four seeds in the regional. The winner of the Athens Regional will advance to the NCAA Championships which will also be held in Athens, Ga. next week.