Jan. 17, 2014

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COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina women’s tennis team opens the 2014 season Saturday hosting East Tennessee State at 10 a.m. followed by College of Charleston at 3 p.m. Both matches will take place indoors at the USC Field House.

The Gamecocks open the spring ranked No. 33 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. South Carolina ended the 2013 campaign with a No. 34 billing after reaching the NCAA Tournament for the 19th year in a row. South Carolina graduated three players from last year’s team while returning five letterwinners for this season. The Gamecocks feature two redshirts and three newcomers on the 2014 edition as well.

“We’re a little bit young,” South Carolina head coach Kevin Epley said. “We’ve got some young faces in there not experienced with the rigors of SEC competition. It’s going to really be the intangibles, and what I mean by that is the will to win, and how much the team members hold each other accountable and buy in to the culture, are determined and passionate. That’s what it comes down to.”

Freshman Brigit Folland, ranked No. 113, posted a solid fall slate for Carolina. The Bristol, United Kingdom, native posted an 8-5 record in singles and finished 7-4 in doubles. She scored two wins against opponents ranked in the top 50 of the fall rankings, the first coming in the round of 16 at the USTA/ITA Carolina Regional Championships against No. 42 Ester Goldfeld of Duke. She defeated No. 50 Cindy Chala of VCU in the Gamecocks’ final tournament of the fall.

Sophomore Ximena Siles Luna and freshman Carolina Dailey also had successful fall campaigns. Both players opened the season by winning their first five matches with Siles Luna going on to finish 7-2 and Dailey 8-4. After winning her flight at the Tribe Invitational, Siles Luna reach the finals of the Furman Fall Classic and then advanced to the round of 16 at the regionals after snagging the first win of her career against a ranked opponent in then-No. 45 Joelle Kissell of NC State. Dailey finished the fall on a two-match winning streak.

Junior Elixane Lechemia closed out her fall on a high note as well with a pair of wins against ranked opponents at the Kitty Harrison Invitational. She owns a 6-4 record thus far in 2013-14 after going 11-6 last spring. Lechemia played at primarily the No. 3 singles position in 2013 and earned SEC Player of the Week honors once.

Katerina Popova and Dominika Kanakova are the lone seniors on this year’s team. Kanakova appeared in two tournaments during the fall and posted a 3-3 record, while Popova went 5-4. Popova held the No. 2 singles spot a year ago and earned second-team All-SEC Honors with a 20-11 record. She ended the season ranked No. 111 and was rated No. 77 this past fall. Kanakova settled in to the No. 4 singles position last season and made her mark as a doubles player with Jaklin Alawi. The duo finished with a No. 28 ranking and went 24-11 with an appearance in the NCAA Doubles Championship.

Meghan Blevins is entering her first spring season with the Gamecocks after spending the past two seasons at Oklahoma State. A Charleston, S.C., native, Blevins won 20-plus singles matches in her two years with the Cowgirls and played No. 2 singles for OSU a year ago. She went 4-7 during the fall in four tournaments and had the team’s best individual doubles record at 8-3.

Rounding out the Gamecocks’ 10-person squad are sophomore Katie Fosnacht, freshman Natalie Looney and junior Alex Martin. Fosnacht, who is from Blythewood, S.C., redshirted last season after transferring from Coastal Carolina. Looney joined the team last spring and also redshirted before appearing in four tournaments this past fall. Martin, also a South Carolina native hailing from Mt. Pleasant, spent her first season playing for Texas before joining the Gamecocks in fall 2012 and competed in three tournaments last fall.

The Gamecocks will have more than a week to prepare for their next match following Saturday’s doubleheader when they host Furman at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 28.