May 4, 2016

COLUMBIA, S.C. ââ’¬” South Carolina women’s tennis junior Caroline Dailey earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Singles Championships, while the No. 13 Gamecocks’ tandem of sophomore Hadley Berg and freshman Paige Cline received an at-large bid to NCAA Doubles Championship. The NCAA’s individual championships begin on Wed., May 25, at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla., following the conclusion of the team championships at the same location.

Ranked No. 63 in the nation last week, Dailey is the second Gamecock in as many seasons to earn a spot in the Singles Championship, following Elixane Lechemia’s entry last season. One of 22 SEC players among the 64-player field, Dailey played at the top of the Gamecocks’ singles lineup throughout the season, posting three wins over top-30 opponents, highlighted by a win over then-No. 11 Joana Eidukonyte of Clemson to tie the team score and set up the Gamecocks’ 4-3 win over the then-No. 21 Tigers.

South Carolina’s top doubles tandem of Berg and Cline, which has been ranked as high as No. 24 this spring and currently No. 29 in the nation, is one of seven SEC duos in the 32-team field. The two, who attended the same high school a year apart in northern California, played together only once in the fall season before joining forces at the top of the lineup this spring to post an 11-5 record in dual matches. The duo also matched the school’s top SEC doubles record at the No. 1 position by going 7-4 at No. 1 in league play. In addition to their success for the Garnet and Black, they also won the WTA’s SHAPE Invitational in March, which allowed them to receive a wild-card entry into the WTA’s Volvo Car Open in Charleston, S.C., last month.

With this season’s selections, South Carolina has had at least one entry in 28 of 35 NCAA Individual Championships. Helen Crook and Victoria Davies are the only South Carolina duo to go as far as the semifinals, which happened in 1994.

The brackets for both championships will be released at a later date. Click here for a complete list of entries in both championships.

No. 13 South Carolina begins play in the NCAA Championships on Fri., May 13, at 5 p.m. when the Gamecocks host Winthrop in a first-round matchup at the Carolina Tennis Center.