Epley Inks Davies, Jovic to NLI

Nov. 14, 2016

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Carolina women’s tennis head coach Kevin Epley announced the addition of two student-athletes to the 2017 signing class on Monday. Megan Davies and Nikolina Jovic have both signed a National Letter of Intent to join the Gamecock program.

Davies, who hails from Wolverhampton, England and Stafford Manor High School, is set to join the team next fall. She holds a top-20 ITF ranking in Great Britain, and has represented her country at the Euro Juniors 16U Winter Cup. Earlier this year, she won back-to-back singles championships at both the 1st and 2nd Qatar ITF Junior Open in Dohar, Qatar. She was also crowned a national champion in singles and doubles at the Nike British Junior National Championships. At the Nike Junior International Championships in Roehampton, Davies took down the No. 33-ranked junior player in the world, Lara Escuariza, in the round of 64. She has also competed at the Wimbledon Junior Championships qualifying tournament.

“Megan is a super player who has really come into her own in the last year,” said Epley. “She is a great competitor who has high aspirations for her tennis. We believe she will thrive in the SEC and we’re thrilled to have her join the Gamecocks. We believe she is the type of player who can bring the team to the next level.”

Jovic, a native of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, attended Gemit-Apeiron for high school. She is No. 169 in the ITF world rankings, which is courtesy of several big wins over the last couple of years. Jovic has defeated a few of the top junior players in the world, including No. 3 Jill Teichmann, No. 30 Jacqueline Cristian, No. 38 Oana Gavrila and No. 74 Shelly Krolitzky. Internationally, Jovic plays under the Serbian flag.

“Nikolina has defeated some of the best players in the world throughout her junior career,” said Epley. “She is a highly motivated player who will contribute immediately. We are very excited she will be joining us next year.”