Vanderbilt, Kentucky on South Carolina’s Away Slate This Weekend

Columbia, S.C. – No. 34 South Carolina looks to continue its winning streak as it travels to No. 41 Vanderbilt and No. 63 Kentucky for a pair of road contests. The Gamecocks will face the Commodores on Friday at 3 p.m. ET before taking on the Wildcats on Sunday at noon ET.
 
Gamecock Notables

• South Carolina is fresh off a perfect weekend at home with wins over then-No. 54 Mississippi State and then-No. 44 Ole Miss.
• No. 2 Sarah Hamner is on track to have a 30-win season in singles. The last Gamecock to reach this mark was Ana Marija Zubori with 31 wins in the 2008-09 season. 
• No. 61 Ayana Akli is on a five-match winning streak which is currently the longest on the South Carolina squad. She claimed each of those wins in straight sets.
• Both No. 86 Elise Mills and freshman Misa Malkin have 19 singles wins this season and have each clinched a match at least once.
• Doubles pairs No. 36 Megan Davies/Hamner and Akli/Ana Cruz each have five SEC wins and are on a three-match winning streak.
• South Carolina has 25 doubles wins with nine in the No. 1 spot and 8 in the Nos. 2 and 3 spots.
• South Carolina is 10-7 in dual matches, including a 5-3 record in SEC play.

 
Scouting the Commodores

• No. 41 Vanderbilt is 10-6 this season including a 2-5 showing in SEC play. It is also 7-1 at home.
• Most recently, the Commodores defeated Kentucky 6-1 on the road.
• Vanderbilt’s only other SEC win this season came in a 5-1 decision over Missouri.
• The Commodores went on a five-match winning streak prior to conference play which was their longest streak this season.
• Vanderbilt boasts ranked players in No. 57 Anna Ross, No. 72 Anessa Lee and doubles pair No. 76 Ross/Holly Staff.
• The nine Commodores are led by head coach Aleke Tsoubanos, assistant coach Hayley Carter and volunteer assistant coach Chase Colton.

 
The Vanderbilt Series

• South Carolina is 20-23 against Vanderbilt and is currently on a four-match winning streak. 
• The Gamecocks have won three of the last four doubles points.
• In the last meeting in Nashville, South Carolina came out on top in a 4-0 decision.
• The Gamecocks boast the longest winning streak in the series with seven.
• Most recently, the Gamecocks defeated the Commodores 4-1 in the second round of the SEC Tournament held in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

 
Scouting the Wildcats

• No. 63 Kentucky is 12-8 overall and 0-7 in conference play. Additionally, it is 11-4 at home.
• The Wildcats have earned eight points across its SEC matches. The only conference match they did not earn a point in was against Alabama to start the SEC slate.
• Kentucky earned the doubles point in the matches against then-No. 12 Texas A&M and Missouri. 
• The Wildcats only has one ranking in doubles pair No. 56 Carlota Molina/Elizabeth Stevens.
• Ahead of Sunday’s match, the Wildcats will face No. 16 Florida.
• The two freshmen and seven returners are led by head coach Carlos Drada and assistant coach Brad Merchant.

 
The Kentucky Series

• The Gamecocks are 26-16 against Kentucky, including an 8-8 record on the road.
• South Carolina is on an eight-match winning streak which is the longest in series history. Of those eight wins, three occurred on the road.
• The most recent meeting in Lexington was a thriller that came down to the wire and resulted in South Carolina coming away with the 4-3 win.

 
Match Day Coverage

• Vanderbilt: the match can be watched here and live scoring can be found here. In addition, Cracked Racquets SEC CrossCourt Coverage for Friday’s match can be found here.
• Kentucky: live video can be found here and live scoring can be found here.

 
Fan Information

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