April 7, 2016
COLUMBIA, S.C. — With four matches remaining in the regular season, No. 10 South Carolina women’s tennis hits the road for a pair of key matchups this weekend that will help sort out the cluster near the top of the SEC standings. The Gamecocks first head to No. 13 Auburn for a Friday matchup at 3 p.m. ET, before taking on No. 56 Alabama on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.
The Gamecocks (15-4, 7-2) and Tigers (19-4, 7-2) enter Friday’s matchup in a three-way tie for third in the SEC standings along with No. 5 Vanderbilt, who Carolina defeated earlier this spring and the Tigers will meet in the final week of the regular season. Alabama (4-13, 0-9), meanwhile, searches for its first conference win in 2016 after suffering its fourth 4-3 loss in SEC play against Auburn last weekend.
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Quotable
Assistant Coach Jeff Nevolo: “The most important thing for this weekend is still trying to raise our level of play. We have yet to really play a match where everyone is playing their best. Our main focus is to try and keep getting better with each match and try to raise our level. These two teams are very tough to play and very tough at home. We are just hoping we can get everybody focused and keep raising our level of play as we come down the stretch in the regular season.”
Freshman Impact
A trio of freshman has stepped into major roles for the Gamecocks this season. Brazilian Ingrid Gamarra Martins and Californian Paige Cline are both featured in the top half of the singles lineup, with No. 63 Martins posting a 5-3 SEC mark at No. 2 singles, while Cline is a solid 4-4 in conference play. Florida native Rachel Rohrabacher has broken into the doubles lineup, paired with Martins at No. 3, where the duo is 2-0 so far, while Cline makes up half of the nation’s No. 24 ranked doubles tandem along with teammate Hadley Berg.
Quick Hits
- The Gamecocks remain in the Top 10 for the fourth-consecutive week.
- South Carolina is off to its best start through 19 matches since 2007.
- The Gamecocks have reached seven SEC wins for the first time since 2010.
- South Carolina is 4-1 against top-20 opponents this spring.
- Led by the nation’s No. 24 doubles team of sophomore Hadley Berg and freshman Paige Cline, the Gamecocks have won the doubles point in 14-of-19 matches this spring.
- Freshman Ingrid Gamarra Martins and sophomore Hadley Berg lead the team in three-set wins with four apiece.
Scouting No. 13 Auburn
- The Tigers are a perfect 15-0 at home this season
- Auburn has collected nine ranked wins this season, including defeats of No. 11 Oklahoma State, No. 14 Texas A&M and No. 9 LSU.
- Ranked in singles: Andie Dikosavljevic (26), Alizee Michaud (40), Pleun Burgmans (71)
- Ranked in doubles: Burgmans and Michaud (22), Burgmans and Paula de Man (48)
Scouting No. 56 Alabama
- The Crimson Tide are 4-4 at home this season, including wins against No. 26 Northwestern and No. 40 Texas
- Ranked in singles: Erin Routliffe (36), Andie Daniell (50),
- Ranked in doubles: Daniell and Routliffe (55), Routliffe and Natalia Maynetto (68)
Up Next
Carolina closes its regular season at No. 75 Tennessee on Fri., April 15, before traveling to No. 4 Georgia for a Sunday matchup with the Bulldogs, who currently sit a game in front of Carolina in the SEC standings.
