Women’s Tennis Headed to 27th Consecutive NCAA Tournament

Columbia, S.C. – The 28th-ranked South Carolina women’s tennis team earned a bid to its 27th consecutive NCAA Tournament, the NCAA announced during its Monday selection show. The Gamecocks will face Iowa State in the first round of the tournament at host site and top-seeded North Carolina.
 
First- and second-round action will take place in Cary, N.C., and begins on Saturday at the Cary Tennis Park where South Carolina will take on Iowa State on Saturday at 10 a.m. No. 1 seed and top-ranked North Carolina will face South Carolina State in the other first-round match with the winners meeting in the second round Sunday for a chance to advance to the super regionals. The Gamecocks are one of 13 teams to have at least 30 appearances in the 40 years of the NCAA Tournament. 
 
Headed into NCAA competition, the Gamecocks are 14-10 in dual matches with an 8-5 mark in conference play. They notably upset two top-20 teams with wins against then-No. 16 Tennessee and then-No. 13 Auburn at home. In the SEC Tournament, the Gamecocks advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating Kentucky 4-1 in the second round. Their tournament run was halted by Georgia in the quarterfinals.
 
Selections for the 64-person NCAA Singles Championship and 32-team NCAA Doubles Championship are set to be announced Tuesday. South Carolina has ranked singles players in No. 5 Sarah Hamner and No. 56 Ayana Akli, as well as top-50 ranked doubles pairs in No. 24 Hamner/Misa Malkin and No. 40 Hamner/Megan Davies. The singles championship will begin on Monday, May 23, and the doubles championship will start on Tuesday, May 24. Both will take place in Champaign, Ill. at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex.
 
Schedule
Saturday, May 7
10 a.m. – South Carolina vs. Iowa State (Match 1)
1 p.m. – North Carolina vs. South Carolina State (Match 2)
 
Sunday, May 8
2 p.m. – Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2