Women's Tennis Set for First Fall Event in Knoxville
South Carolina Joined by Vanderbilt and Georgia at Event Hosted by Tennessee
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina women’s tennis team kicks off its fall season Friday in Knoxville, Tenn., at the UT Fall Invite. In addition to the host Volunteers, Vanderbilt and Georgia will join the Gamecocks to the compete in the event.
“We got some of the best in the SEC,” head coach Kevin Epley said. “It’s going to be a lot of intensity, a lot of emotional ups and downs, physical ups and downs, mental ups and downs. So, expect it to be quite an adventure. We just want to bring our Gamecock competitive spirit to every single match. We’ve been talking a lot about the connectivity between the team that we used to have in previous years. And we have younger kids now and we have older kids and we’re just trying to get that unity back. I think we made a lot of progress this week with that. So, I want to see a whole team effort for all three days of competition.”
The Gamecocks are slated for matches with Vanderbilt and Tennessee on Friday, followed by contests with Georgia and Tennessee on Saturday. South Carolina wraps up play Sunday with competitions versus Georgia and Vanderbilt.
South Carolina returns all nine players from last year’s roster, as 2019-20 seniors Mia Horvit and Silvia Chinellato opted to use the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA after the pandemic abruptly ended all spring sports. Horvit, a two-time All-American, held down the No. 1 singles position for the majority of Carolina’s spring matches this season and was named the UTR/ITA National Player of the Week just days before the season was canceled. She was ranked as high as No. 25 in singles and No. 56 in doubles with Megan Davies.
Chinellato got off to a 4-0 start in SEC play in the spring and was ranked as high as No. 12 in doubles with Emma Shelton. Chinellato ended the season with one of the top doubles marks on the team with an 18-7 record.
Shelton, a freshman last season, had a remarkable year that ended with her being named the ITA Carolina Region Rookie of the Year. She went a perfect 11-0 in singles play during the spring and ended the year ranked No. 92. Shelton led the team in doubles victories with a 19-8 record in addition to her stellar 19-3 overall singles mark.
Davies looks to build upon the breakout year she enjoyed last season after leading the team with a 24-12 singles record and ascending as high as No. 20 in the rankings. A fixture at No. 2 singles, Davies began last fall ranked No. 125 and finished 28th after reaching the semifinals of the ITA Carolina Regional Championships and the ITA Fall National Championships.
Elise Mills, Kendall Couch and Gabriela Martinez, all freshmen last season, will also compete in Knoxville, as will newcomers Corina Spasojevic and Lindsay Tulenko.
