Epley Signs McKenna Schaefbauer to National Letter of Intent
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina women’s tennis head coach Kevin Epley announced the signing of McKenna Schaefbauer on Wednesday. Schaefbauer, a senior from Normal, Ill., will join the Gamecocks in the fall of 2022.
“We have been impressed with McKenna’s character and ability since the first time we met her,” said head coach Kevin Epley. “She has a very strong serve and world class backhand and we believe she will improve a lot as a Gamecock. We are very fired up for her to join the squad – she will fit in perfectly with the team from day one.”
Schaefbauer is listed as the No. 2 recruit in Illinois and the No. 34 recruit in the nation according to tennisrecruiting.net. The five-star recruit notably advanced to the singles round of 64 in the USTA Girls’ 18 National Clay Court Championships and finished as a semifinalist in the PTT Naples Women’s $25K. In doubles, she most recently finished as the runner up in the W15 Norman and advanced to the quarterfinals in the W15 Hilton Head Island. According to her Universal Tennis Ranking, Schaefbauer is the No. 76 junior in the United States and the No. 384 junior in the world.
Schaefbauer saw much success in 2019 tournament play, becoming the USTA Girls 16 National Level 3 Coyote Cup Singles Champion and the USTA National Level 2 Doubles Champion. In 2019, she was named the McLean County IL State Farm Female Athlete of the Year at the high school level.
In the 2020 season, Schaefbauer reached the semifinals in both the USTA Girls 16 National Level 2 Doubles competition and in the Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships Girls’ 16 Doubles. She also advanced to the singles round of 32 in the 2020 Orange Bowl.
In her freshman year of high school, she was named the IHSA Class A State Singles Champion, the Central State 8 Singles Champion, and the Purple and Gold Singles and Doubles Champion.
Schaefbauer will join one of the top collegiate coaches in the nation under coach Epley. Since coming to South Carolina in summer 2012, Epley has amassed a 148-78 overall record while going 69-39 in the Southeastern Conference. He also guided South Carolina to three consecutive seasons with 20 or more wins three years in a row (2017-2019), a first in program history. The Gamecocks have finished in the top 25 five times under Epley and most recently finished 26th in the 2020-21 season. Epley was named the 2019 ITA National Coach of the Year and the SEC Coach of the Year. He has also been selected as the ITA Carolina Region Coach of the Year twice.
