No. 4 Carolina Faces North Florida in the First Round
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina women’s tennis team kicks off the NCAA Championships by hosting North Florida in the first round at 12 p.m. ET on Friday at the Carolina Tennis Center.
This is not the first time No. 4 Carolina (20-3, 12-1 SEC) and the Ospreys (17-7, 6-1 ASUN) have met in the postseason. In 2017, the two programs competed in the first round of the NCAA Championships, also at the Carolina Tennis Center. The Gamecocks came out on top over North Florida, 4-0, advancing to the second round.
South Carolina
The Gamecocks enter the weekend on a 10-match win streak after defeating No. 1-ranked Georgia, 4-3, for the program’s first SEC Championship title.
Under SEC Coach of the Year Kevin Epley, Carolina has three individuals and two doubles teams ranked in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s (ITA) polls.
SEC Player of the Year and SEC Tournament MVP Ingrid Martins sits at No. 4 in the singles poll, serving as South Carolina’s highest-ranked individual. This season, Martins has tallied an overall record of 26-6, including a 14-2 mark in dual matches. When facing ranked opponents, Martins is 12-2.
Also appearing on the singles list, Paige Cline comes in at No. 17. Cline owns an overall mark of 21-7 and is 12-4 at the No. 2 position for Carolina. In her last 10 matches, Cline has gone 7-1, with two going unfinished.
Ranked at No. 81, Mia Horvit is also 14-2 in dual matches and has an overall record of 21-5. Horvit has won six-consecutive matches at the No. 3 spot and is a perfect 6-0 in her last 10, having four go unfinished.
In doubles, Horvit and Martins are the No. 3-ranked tandem in the nation. Together they have amassed a 23-6 overall mark, going 13-4 in duals at the No. 1 position. Also ranked in doubles, Megan Davies and Rachel Rohrabacher sit at No. 39.
North Florida
The Ospreys won their fifth-straight Atlantic Sun Conference Championship. North Florida edged out Florida Gulf Coast in the title match, 4-3, solidifying a spot in the NCAA Championships.
UNF starts the tournament having won four-straight matches, two of those being blankings of North Alabama and Libscomb.
Rafaela Gomez and Constanza Gorches play a dominating No. 1 doubles for the Ospreys with a 16-5 record. In singles, Gorches has a dual-match mark of 11-3, playing mostly at the No. 5 spot where she is 9-2. Gomez sees time on both courts one and two for a record of 10-8, including an even 6-6 at the No. 1 spot.
Prior to Carolina’s match, No. 21 Virginia and No. 40 Old Dominion get things started on Friday with an 9 a.m. ET match time. The winners of each match play for the right to go to the Sweet 16 on Saturday at 10 a.m. ET.
Live scoring and live video are available for all matches and can be found through the tournament landing page and the tennis schedule page on gamecocksonline.com.
Continue to check back with gamecocksonline.com for more updates or follow the team on social media (@GamecockWTennis).
