April 29, 2014
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The No. 28-ranked South Carolina women’s tennis team earned its 20th consecutive NCAA Tournament bid Tuesday and will face No. 36 Ohio State in the first round May 9 at 10 a.m. at Ambler Tennis Center in Durham, N.C. Also competing in the Durham regional will be host and No. 6-ranked Duke and East Tennessee State, who play May 9 at 1 p.m. The winners will square off May 10 at 3 p.m. for the right to play at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga., at the NCAA Championships from May 15-20.
South Carolina will head to Durham for the second time in three years for first- and second-round NCAA play. In 2012, the Gamecocks defeated TCU 4-1 in the first round before suffering a 4-0 loss to Duke in the second round. Overall, it marks the third time the Gamecocks have traveled to Durham for NCAAs with the other appearance coming in 2003. Carolina defeated Penn 4-3 in the first round that year and then lost 4-0 to Duke in the second.
South Carolina and Ohio State have only met three times in the schools’ histories with the Buckeyes owning a 2-1 edge. Coincidentally, the last meeting between the two also occurred in Durham in 2009 in the opening round of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. OSU claimed that match by a 4-3 score despite losing the doubles point. South Carolina is 2-0 all-time versus East Tennessee State including a win against the Buccaneers to open this season and the Gamecocks are 4-12 against Duke.
The Gamecocks enter the tournament with a 16-10 record overall and went 6-7 in SEC play. Individually, Elixane Lechemia and Katerina Popova are South Carolina’s two ranked singles players at Nos. 67 and 118. Lechemia holds a No. 27 ranking in doubles with Dominika Kanakova, while Popova is 49th with Meghan Blevins. Lechemia was named to the All-SEC First Team, making her just the fifth Gamecock in school history to achieve first-team status. She also earned the team’s MVP award and leads the team in singles victories with a 21-10 record and is 20-10 in doubles.
Overall, South Carolina has now been selected for the NCAA Tournament 24 times. 2014 marks the 33rd year the NCAA has sponsored a championship in women’s tennis. With 24 bids, South Carolina is tied for 13th for the most NCAA appearances in the country. South Carolina’s 20 NCAA appearances in a row are tied for the 11th longest active streak in the country. South Carolina has reached the round of 16 six times (1983, 1983, 1990, 1995, 1999, 2009) and advanced as far as the quarterfinals twice (1982, 2009). The Gamecocks have also won at least one round in the tournament 16 times during their previous 18 appearances.
Individual selections for the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships will be posted Wednesday on NCAA.com after 6 p.m. Georgia will also host the individual championships from May 21-26.
