March 20, 2014
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COLUMBIA, S.C. — The 56th-ranked South Carolina women’s tennis team faces a pair of top-20-ranked opponents on the road this week when it takes on No. 8 Alabama on Friday at 6 p.m. in Tuscaloosa, Ala., followed by a 2 p.m. match-up in Auburn, Ala., with No. 20 Auburn on Sunday.
The Gamecocks (10-6, 1-4 SEC) are looking to snap a four-match skid after dropping a pair of road SEC contests last week at then-No. 12 Georgia and then-No. 49 Tennessee. Against Georgia, South Carolina lost a tight doubles point and nearly scored a win against the nation’s third-ranked duo at No. 1 doubles, but play was suspended after the Bulldogs secured the other two spots with 8-6 wins. Carolina led 7-5 at the top spot. UGA then got straight set wins at positions three, five and six in singles for the 4-0 triumph. Carolina won the doubles point handily at Tennessee for the second year in a row but could only muster one victory in singles play for a 4-2 final. Brigit Folland scored the Gamecocks’ lone point in singles at the No. 4 position in straight sets. UT used wins on courts one, three, five and six to pick up the win.
Behind a pair of come-from-behind three-setters, Alabama (13-2, 5-0 SEC) beat Auburn 4-2 last week at the Yarbrough Tennis Center in Auburn. With the victory, the Crimson Tide extended its winning streak to nine matches and is currently tied for first with Georgia in the league standings. Alabama won its 13th doubles point of the season and got singles wins from Erin Routliffe, Maya Jansen and Mary Anne Daines, who clinched at No. 1 over Pleun Burgmans. Daines and partner Danielle Spielmann have won nine straight doubles matches together and are 10-1 on the season overall.
For Auburn (14-3, 4-1 SEC), the Crimson Tide snapped the Tigers’ 16 straight wins in doubles and the Tigers fell for the first time this year at home. Emily Flickinger and Jackie Kasler gave the Tigers wins in singles. Flickinger defeated Spielmann 7-5, 6-1 at No. 2. Flickinger trailed 5-2 in the first and then won 12 of the next 13 games to pick up the win. Kasler posted a 7-5, 6-4 victory on court five over Emily Zabor. Auburn hosts No. 5 Florida on Friday at 4 p.m. before welcoming the Gamecocks to Yarbrough Tennis Center.
Several players with national singles rankings will be in action for both matches this weekend. For the Gamecocks, Folland is No. 95 followed by Meghan Blevins at No. 112. Alabama’s Daines holds a No. 58 ranking and Routliffe is right behind her at 59th. Jansen is rated 64th and Spielmann stands No. 113. Burgmans of Auburn is the highest ranked player competing this weekend at No. 33, and her teammate Flickinger is No. 101.
All three squads have at least one doubles team in the national rankings as well. Alabama has four different combos with Routliffe and Jansen topping the list at No. 8, followed by Zabor and Luicelena Perez (44), Routliffe and Spielmann (59), and Spielmann and Daines (T-70). Auburn’s Flickinger and Burgmans are No. 12 and Michala Kucharova and Reka Muller at No. 46. South Carolina’s Elixane Lechemia and Dominika Kanakova are 61st.
The Gamecocks hold the all-time edge in both series with Auburn and Alabama. South Carolina is 14-9 versus the Crimson Tide but has lost the last two. Last year, Alabama snagged a 4-1 victory after losing the doubles point to post its first win in Columbia, S.C., since 2003. The Gamecocks suffered a 7-0 setback to the Crimson Tide the last time they visited Tuscaloosa in 2012 and played an indoor contest when torrential rain hit about an hour before match time.
South Carolina has a dominant advantage over the Tigers since first playing Auburn in the mid-80s with a 26-5 mark. The Gamecocks won 17 straight versus Auburn from 1994 to 2007, but the Tigers have stepped up their level of play since then. South Carolina has won four of the past seven meetings to include a 4-1 upset of the then-18th-ranked Tigers last year in Columbia to give the Gamecocks’ their third win in a row over Auburn. The Gamecocks’ last visit to Auburn on April 1, 2012, was an emotional one, as it came a day after the passing of longtime coach Arlo Elkins, who had stepped aside as head coach just one month before. Kanakova clinched the 4-3 victory for the Gamecocks that day in the last match standing at No. 3 singles, 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5.
After both matches this weekend, the Gamecocks will return home for their next two SEC contests slated for March 28 against No. 55 LSU at 5 p.m. and March 30 versus No. 46 Arkansas at 1:30 p.m.
