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No. 15 South Carolina Prepares For First Dual Matches Of 2018
Women's Tennis  . 

No. 15 South Carolina Prepares For First Dual Matches Of 2018

Jan. 18, 2018

Women’s Tennis at UCF and USF

Match Info

Host: UCF

Date: Jan. 19, 2018

Start Time: 5 p.m. ET

Location: Lake Nona, Fla.

Venue: USTA National Campus

Host: USF

Date: Jan. 21, 2018

Start Time: 12 p.m. ET

Location: Tampa, Fla.

Venue: USF Varsity Tennis Courts

COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 15 South Carolina women’s tennis will open 2018 dual match play competing at the University of Central Florida on Friday and at the University of South Florida on Sunday.

The Gamecocks are coming off a tournament victory at the FGCU Spring Invite last weekend, winning eight of nine singles matches and 16 of 22 doubles matches against players from No. 23 Ole Miss, Rice, Denver, FGCU and Kansas.

Hadley Berg and Megan Davies hold the team’s best individual singles records at 12-1 and 15-3, respectively. Both Berg and Davies went undefeated in singles at the FGCU Spring Invite, along with freshmen Nikolina Jovic and Kennedy Wicker. The doubles tandem of Davies and Silvia Chinellato is the team’s most productive at 11-3 overall. The duo went 2-0 at the FGCU Spring Invite with wins over Arisha Ladhani/Camille Verden-Anderson (Denver) and Anna Bowtell/Sophie Moenster (Rice).

For updates from both matches, continue to check back with GamecocksOnline.com or follow the team on social media (@GamecockWTennis).

QUOTABLE

“It was a quick turnaround at home and we are back in Florida competing again this weekend. It will be great to get back down there and build on the match play from last week. The early part of the season is dedicated to improving week to week, so we are looking forward to see if we can bring more to the table this weekend.” — Head Coach Kevin Epley

GAMECOCK NOTABLES

  • The Gamecocks are ranked at No. 15 in the nation by Oracle and the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), it was announced Jan. 17.
  • South Carolina finished the 2016-17 season with a 20-9 overall record and a No. 15 ranking from Oracle/ITA. Epley was named the Wilson/ITA Carolina Region Coach of the Year for the team’s performance in 2017.
  • The Gamecocks advanced to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 last season for the first time since 2009, marking their 23rd consecutive postseason appearance.
  • South Carolina sent two singles players, Mia Horvit and Ingrid Gamarra Martins, to the Round of 32 of the NCAA Singles Championship for the first time since 1983 when Laura Bernstein and Ellen Oxreider both moved on. Horvit went on to reach the round of 16, making her the first singles All-American for South Carolina since Bernstein in 1983.
  • Three new freshmen joined the team this fall, including Nikolina Jovic, Kennedy Wicker and Megan Davies.
  • Ranked in singles: Hadley Berg (43), Megan Davies (105)
  • Ranked in doubles: Berg and Rachel Rohrabacher (33), Davies and Silvia Chinellato (48)

SCOUTING UCF

  • The Knights finished the 2017 season with a 13-9 overall record and an 0-4 record in conference play.
  • Friday’s matchup is the first-ever meeting between South Carolina and UCF in dual match play.
  • The Knights are led by second-year head coach Bryan Koniecko, who came to the program after spending two seasons as the men’s tennis head coach at Brown University.
  • UCF’s 2018 roster includes four freshmen, one junior and two senior players. Similar to South Carolina, Friday’s match will be the Knights’ first in dual match play of 2018.

SCOUTING USF

  • USF finished last season with a 15-11 overall record and went 7-2 in conference play. In April, the No. 7 Bulls defeated Temple, Tulane, SMU and a top-seeded Tulsa squad to clinch their second American Athletic Conference Championship.
  • The Bulls made an appearance in the 2017 NCAA Team Tournament, but were defeated by Miami in the opening round, 4-0.
  • Ranked in singles: Ana Roman Dominguez (97)
  • The last time USF faced South Carolina was on March 3, 2010, when the Gamecocks earned a 5-2 team win in Columbia.
  • The Bulls are led by third-year head coach Cristina Moros, who came to USF after serving as the head coach of women’s tennis at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) for one season.

UP NEXT FOR THE GAMECOCKS

The Gamecocks will host Clemson, Southern Cal and Oklahoma during ITA Kick-Off Weekend from Jan. 26-27 at the Carolina Tennis Center. As the No. 1 seeded team of the weekend, South Carolina opens play against four-seeded Oklahoma at 2 p.m. on Jan. 26. The winner of that match will play the winner of two-seeded Southern Cal vs. three-seeded Clemson in the Championship match at 2 p.m. on Jan. 27. The winner of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend will advance to the ITA Indoor Championship from Feb. 9-11 in Madison, Wis.

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