No. 10 Gamecocks To Face Quinnipiac In Round of 64
May 10, 2018
2018 NCAA Women’s Tennis Tournament
COLUMBIA, S.C. — No. 10 South Carolina women’s tennis (19-6, 11-2 SEC) is set to host NCAA Regionals for the third straight season, meeting with Quinnipiac for the first time in program history at 2 p.m. Friday in the Round of 64 at the Carolina Tennis Center.
The Gamecocks also welcome VCU and Virginia to the Carolina Tennis Center. The winners of both matches will face in the Round of 32 on Saturday at 2 p.m.
South Carolina enters NCAA Regionals after a historic regular season, in which it finished tied for second in the SEC, tied for the best league finish in program history with the 1996 squad. This season, the Gamecocks owned a 13-match winning streak, the second longest in program history, and earned the program’s highest ranking at No. 5 in the nation on April 3.
Last season, South Carolina defeated North Florida and Texas in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament to advance to the Sweet 16 for the seventh time in program history and first time since 2009.
“I think the body of work this season overall, we’ve had a better season. I feel like we’re happier with our doubles in general. We had a couple of injuries at the end of the season. That’s a big thing to carry going in,” Head Coach Kevin Epley said. “I feel like we’re going to have everybody back and I think the team is looking forward to it.”
Tickets for the NCAA Tournament matches at the Carolina Tennis Center are $5 for general admission and $3 for students with a valid university ID.
QUOTABLE
GAMECOCK NOTABLES
- The No. 10 seed marks the highest in school history since the championship switched to the current 64-team format beginning with the 1999 season. South Carolina was the No. 14 seed in 1999, No. 12 in 2002, No. 13 in 2016 and No. 14 last season.
- The Gamecocks are ranked at No. 10 in the nation, the ITA announced on May 3. They have been ranked in the Top 10 for eight straight weeks.
- South Carolina will host the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament for the third-straight year and sixth time overall. The first time the Gamecocks hosted the tournament was in 1996 followed by 1999 and 2002, before starting their current streak in 2016.
- South Carolina’s streak of 24 consecutive NCAA appearances is tied for the ninth longest active streak in the country with Vanderbilt.
- Ranked in singles: Hadley Berg (34), Ingrid Gamarra Martins (59), Megan Davies (113)
- Ranked in doubles: Hadley Berg / Paige Cline (63), Hadley Berg / Rachel Rohrabacher (75), Ingrid Gamarra Martins / Silvia Chinellato (79), Megan Davies / Silvia Chinellato (87).
- Epley has led his teams to the NCAA Tournament in each of his first 14 years as a head coach (three at Fresno State, five at William & Mary, six at South Carolina). He owns a 13-13 record in NCAA play with a pair of Sweet 16 appearances in 2007 and 2017. Epley’s teams have won at least one round 11 times in his previous 13 postseason bids.
- The Gamecocks have tallied 27 overall NCAA appearances in program history, which rank as the 13th most in the nation. South Carolina’s 27 all-time wins in the NCAA Tournament rank 20th in the country.
- No. 34 Hadley Berg and No. 59 Ingrid Gamarra Martins were named to the All-SEC first team and Mia Horvit was named to the All-SEC second team, marking the first time in program history multiple Gamecocks have received first-team All-SEC recognition.
- Megan Davies‘ 53 combined wins in singles (28) and doubles (25) this season are the most in a single season in school history by a Gamecock freshman.
SCOUTING QUINNIPIAC
- The Bobcats are 15-7 overall and 7-0 in conference play this season.
- Quinnipiac won the MAAC Championship title with a 4-1 win over No. 2 Marist College on April 29.
- Dominique Vasile has primarily played at No. 1 singles for the Bobcats this season, going 11-3 at that spot in the lineup and holding a 17-5 overall singles record.
- Three Bobcats hold significant winning streaks, including Courtney Nash who has won her last eight matches. Stephanie Yanosov and Vasile have won their last seven singles matches.
- Quinnipiac has won 57.7 percent of its singles matches and 55.1 percent of its doubles matches this season.
- The Bobcats are 0-2 against ranked singles players.
- The Bobcats have winning records at five of six singles spots in the lineup, with a 9-11 record at No. 3 this season. In doubles, they have winning records at each of the three lineup spots.
- The Quinnipiac roster is composed of four freshmen, two sophomores and three juniors.
- The Bobcats are coached by Paula Miller, who is in her fourth season with the squad.
- Last season, Quinnipiac made the NCAA Tournament, but was swept by No. 6 Texas Tech in the Round of 64 in Lubbock, Texas.
- This marks Quinnipiac’s 11th NCAA Tournament Appearance in the Division I era. The Bobcats have won the MAAC Championship title for five straight years.
- Quinnipiac’s last loss came in the regular season against Middlebury on April 20.
- South Carolina marks Quinnipiac’s first ranked opponent of the season.
QUICK HITS: NO. 23 VIRGINIA
- Ranked in singles: Rosie Johanson (32)
- Ranked in doubles: Rosie Johanson/Meghan Kelley (16), Cassie Mercer/Chloe Gullickson (54)
- Virginia is ranked at No. 23 in the nation, the ITA announced on May 3.
- Virginia’s roster is composed of two freshmen, four sophomores, two juniors and two seniors.
- Virginia is 15-8 overall and 9-5 in ACC play this season.
- The Cavaliers were eliminated by Wake Forest in the second round of the 2018 ACC Championships on April 26.
- South Carolina is 5-3 against Virginia in the all-time series, winning the last two meetings on the road in 2017 and 2016.
- Johanson is primarily Virginia’s No. 1 singles player, holding an 11-7 record at the spot and a 12-7 overall record in dual match play.
- Virginia was not selected for the NCAA Tournament last season, but will be making the program’s 18th appearance overall this year.
- In 2016, the Cavaliers advanced to the Elite Eight with a win over No. 3 seed North Carolina in the Sweet 16, marking the second Elite Eight appearance in program history.
- The Cavaliers’ nine ACC wins tie for third in ACC wins in program history.
- Virginia has winning records at four of six singles lineups, with losing records at No. 2 and No. 5 singles at 10-12 and 8-12, respectively.
- The Cavaliers hold winning records at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles, but are 5-16 (.238) at No. 3 doubles.
- Head Coach Sara O’Leary is in her first season with the team after serving as the head coach at Davidson for three years.
QUICK HITS: VCU
- South Carolina is 5-2 in the all-time series with VCU, with a five-match winning streak dating back to May 9, 2008.
- VCU’s roster is composed of five freshmen, two sophomores and one junior.
- Last season, VCU was the Atlantic 10 runner up and did not qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
- This season marks the program’s 17th NCAA Tournament appearance. The Rams have reached the NCAA Tournament in 12 of the past 13 years.
- VCU has won the Atlantic 10 Tournament title five times in six seasons since joining the league prior to the 2012-13 campaign.
- The Rams are 17-5 this season with a 2-0 record in Atlantic-10 play.
- At No. 23 in the nation, Virginia marks the first nationally-ranked opponent VCU will face this season.
- Anna Rasmussen is 11-7 in dual match play at No. 1 singles.
- Paola Delgado is 14-5 at No. 2 singles and 15-5 overall in dual match play.
- Head Coach Paul Kostin is in his 18th season with the VCU women’s tennis team. This season marks Kostin’s 15th NCAA Tournament appearance and ninth conference title with the VCU women.
UP NEXT FOR THE GAMECOCKS
If the Gamecocks defeat Quinnipiac, they will advance to the Round 32 and face the winner of the Virginia-VCU match at 2 p.m. on Saturday at the Carolina Tennis Center. The winner of the second round match will travel to the Wake Forest Tennis Complex for the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
For updates, continue to check back with GamecocksOnline.com or follow the team on social media (@GamecockWTennis).
