Oct. 16, 2013
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Eight members of the South Carolina women’s tennis team return to the courts this week when the Gamecocks take part in the USTA/ITA Carolina Regional Championships beginning Thursday in Chapel Hill, N.C. The event ends Monday with the singles finals and the semifinals and finals of doubles.
Katie Fosnacht and Natalie Looney get the event kicked off for the Gamecocks competing in the qualifying singles draw beginning at 9 a.m. Thursday. Fosnacht will take on Taylor Cohen from USC Upstate in the first round, while Looney faces Emily Groeneveld from East Carolina. Fosnacht is 1-1 this fall, playing in just one tournament because of an ankle injury suffered during the second week of practice. Looney has played in two tournaments and holds a 3-4 record in seven matches. Both players need to win two matches Thursday to earn a place in the 64-person main draw that begins Friday.
The doubles main draw starts Thursday, but the Gamecocks’ four duos all have byes into the second round. Elixane Lechemia and Ximena Siles Luna comprise one tandem, as do Meghan Blevins and Brigit Folland. Dominika Kanakova and Caroline Dailey will also compete together, as will Fosnacht and Looney. The Gamecocks have not used any of these combinations this fall, however, Lechemia and Siles Luna did play the majority of the 2013 spring season together at No. 3 doubles.
Siles Luna holds the Gamecocks’ top mark in singles this fall with a 5-1 record. She won her respective flight at the Tribe Invitational to open the season and then finished runner-up for her draw at the Furman Fall Classic. The sophomore led the squad in victories last fall as well with a 12-2 record.
Dailey has just as many wins as Siles Luna but two losses. The Sarasota, Fla., native opened her career as a Gamecock by winning five straight matches, taking her singles flight at the Tribe Invitational before going 2-2 at the Furman Fall Classic.
Blevins is off to a 3-3 start this season after transferring to South Carolina from Oklahoma State. A junior originally from Charleston, S.C., Blevins finished runner-up in a difficult flight at the Tribe Invitational. Blevins, currently ranked No. 109 this fall, knocked off No. 58 Stephanie Nauta from Virginia in her semifinal match in Williamsburg, Va.
Folland is also 3-3 to begin her Gamecock career. Hailing from Bristol, United Kingdom, Folland reached the singles championship round of her first tournament and then finished in seventh place for her flight at the Furman Fall Classic.
Kanakova and Lechemia both have 2-2 records and have battled injuries during the Gamecocks’ two previous tournaments. They earned one victory each at the Furman Fall Classic and the Tribe Invitational before having their stays cut short.
Should the Gamecocks advance a singles competitor to the finals or win the tournament, she would earn an automatic bid to the USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships. The duo winning the doubles tournament also earns a spot in the National Indoors.
