Dec. 11, 2012
2013 Spring Schedule
COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina women’s tennis head coach Kevin Epley announced his team’s 2013 spring schedule Tuesday. The Gamecocks have 23 regular-season dual matches beginning in January.
South Carolina gets the spring campaign underway Jan. 21 when it hosts Winthrop and USC Upstate in a doubleheader beginning with the Eagles at 10 a.m. The Gamecocks take on the Spartans at 3 p.m. Carolina has faced Winthrop the previous nine seasons and owns a 9-0 record against the Eagles. South Carolina and USC Upstate have never played each other previously.
The Gamecocks then head to Ann Arbor, Mich., for the ITA Kick-Off Weekend where they face Missouri in the first round Jan. 26. Michigan will take on Brown in the other match and the winners and losers will play the following day. The overall winner of the event qualifies for the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Charlottesville, Va., from Feb. 8-11.
The Garnet and Black take on a couple of instate opponents after the ITA Kick-Off Weekend on the road facing rival Clemson on Feb. 3 and Furman on Feb. 6. South Carolina has won 29 straight against Furman and defeated Clemson last season for the first time since 2006. Clemson owns a slight 24-23 advantage in the all-time series with the Gamecocks.
Epley returns to the state where he once coached, Virginia, when the Gamecocks take on VCU on Feb. 16 and William & Mary on Feb. 17. Epley served as head coach for five seasons at William & Mary from 2004 to 2008 and compiled a 96-40 record with the Tribe. South Carolina is 4-3 versus the Tribe and defeated William & Mary last season 4-1 in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend opening round in Atlanta. South Carolina is 2-2 against VCU and has won two straight against the Rams by 4-3 counts. The two last played in 2009 in Durham, N.C.
After hosting College of Charleston and Charleston Southern in a doubleheader Feb. 23 starting at 10:30 a.m., the Gamecocks open SEC play with three straight road matches at Texas A&M, Missouri and Florida on March 1, 3 and 9. Carolina then hosts four consecutive conference matches beginning with Tennessee and Georgia on March 15 and 17 at 5 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. Auburn and Alabama head to Columbia, S.C., the following weekend for contests on March 22 and 24, also at 5 p.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Four of the Gamecocks’ final six regular-season matches come on the road at Arkansas (March 29), LSU (March 31), Vanderbilt (April 12) and Kentucky (April 14). Sandwiched between those four away matches are home tilts with Mississippi State on April 5 at 5 p.m. and Ole Miss on April 7 at 1:30 p.m.
Mississippi State serves as host for the SEC Tournament from April 17-21. The NCAA Tournament begins with first- and second-round play taking place over May 10-12 at campus sites and the NCAA Championships will be held May 17-21 in Urbana, Ill. The NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships will also be in Urbana over May 22-27.
