Women’s Tennis to Host Three Duals at Home
Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina women’s tennis will compete at home this weekend, hosting Coastal Carolina and Yale in a Friday afternoon doubleheader and Wake Forest in a Sunday matinee.
The Gamecocks will begin their weekend of action against the Chanticleers on Fri., Feb. 17 at 1 p.m. and will follow it up with a dual against the Bulldogs at 5 p.m. They will wrap up their weekend on Sun., Feb. 19, hosting the Demon Deacons at 11 a.m.
Friday’s matches will be played at the Carolina Indoor Tennis Center located at 523 Superior Street. Sunday’s matches will be played outdoors at the Carolina Tennis Center, weather permitting.
Doors at each facility will open one hour prior to the start of each match. Admission is free and open to the public. Live streaming for all matches will be provided via Track Tennis and can be found here.
Gamecock Notables
- South Carolina has started their season 1-3 with two of their losses coming against top-10 teams. Their lone win of the season comes over Northwestern, 4-2 at the ITA Kickoff Weekend
- Senior Ayana Akli has led the Gamecocks from the top spot in the lineup. She is currently ranked No. 13 in the ITA singles rankings and in a perfect 4-0 in dual play. Akli has a 19-6 overall singles record and is currently on a seven-match singles win streak with all seven wins coming in straight sets.
- Freshman Alice Otis has been an asset to the doubles lineup, going 2-1 with partner Elise Mills. The duo clinched the doubles point in their match versus Clemson.
Scouting the Chanticleers
- Coastal Carolina is 0-2 on the season with losses to College of Charleston and Charleston Southern.
- Victoire De Samucewicz plays at the No. 1 singles position where she is 0-2 this season. The senior is a member of the 2022 All-Sun Belt First Team in doubles and All-Sun Belt Second Team in singles.
- Anna Babayan plays at No. 2 for the Chants and has a 1-1 record in dual play. Babayan plays from the top spot of the doubles lineup and is 2-0 with partner Megan Hopton.
Scouting the Bulldogs
- Yale is 5-1 on the season so far with wins over Rutgers, Indiana, and Penn, and sweeps of Quinnipiac and Dartmouth. Their only loss of the season comes against 3-4 against Columbia in the ECAC Indoor Championships.
- Chelsea Kung leads the Bulldogs from the top spot in the lineup. She also plays at No. 1 doubles with partner Vivian Chengl.
- Kung is the reigning Ivy League Player of the Year and was first team All-Ivy in singles and second team in doubles.
Scouting the Demon Deacons
- Wake Forest is 5-3 on the season with losses to No. 22 Tennessee and two losses to Old Dominion – one during the ITA Kickoff Weekend. The Demon Deacons are earned sweeps over Campbell and UNCG.
- Junior Casie Wooten leads the team from the top spot in the lineup where she has a 6-2 record. Wooten is ranked No. 29 in the latest ITA singles rankings.
- Wake Forest is also home to the nation’s No. 10 doubles pair in Anna Brylin and Brooke Killingsworth. The duo is 4-2 from the No. 1 doubles position and 11-5 together overall.
For all the latest South Carolina women’s tennis information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockWTennis).
