Oct. 21, 2015
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – South Carolina women’s tennis hits the road for the first time this month as it travels to the USTA/ITA Carolina Regionals in Chapel Hill, N.C., Oct. 22-26. The tournament, hosted by North Carolina at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center, marks the fourth of five fall events for the Gamecocks.
The tournament begins Thursday with qualifying singles and main draw doubles. Sophomore Ali Mills and freshman Hannah Templeton open the event for South Carolina in the qualifying draw at 9:30 a.m. Mills faces Masey Demoss of UNC Greensboro, while Templeton takes on Celia Ruiz of East Carolina. Main draw participants include junior Brigit Folland, sophomore Hadley Berg and freshmen Ingrid Gamarra Martins, Paige Cline, Rachel Rohrabacher and Ellie Zogg.
“This tournament is really the definitive tournament for the fall in terms of seeing where our team is stacking up,” head coach Kevin Epley said. “Some of the best competition in the nation competes in our region, and we are excited to get a crack at the best. We have performed well in doubles in this event in the past, and we are hoping to keep that tradition going. We are really looking to see if we are playing the quick-strike tennis that we have been practicing.”
The Gamecocks had a successful run at the event in 2014, when Berg and teammate Elixane Lechemia advanced to the finals of the doubles draw before falling in three sets to Ashley Dai and Kate Vialle from North Carolina. Half of the doubles quarterfinal teams were Gamecocks.
South Carolina has been led this fall by the steady play of Berg and Folland, who have gone a combined 12-2 in singles. The freshman class has made an early impact as well as Martins is second on the team with six wins, while Rohrabacher has added five wins of her own.
Carolina is coming off a strong performance at the South Carolina Fall Invitational, which it hosted at the USC Field House Oct. 2-4. Carolina went 4-0 in doubles on Day One of the event before going 9-3 overall on Day Two, including a 6-0 sweep of William & Mary in singles. Folland and Martins led the way in singles finishing a combined 4-0.
For tournament updates visit www.tennisinformation.com. For team updates visit www.GamecocksOnline.com or follow the team on Twitter (@GamecockWTennis).
