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Gamecocks Advance to Second Round of ITA Kickoff Weekend
Women's Tennis  . 

Gamecocks Advance to Second Round of ITA Kickoff Weekend

Athens, Ga. – ­South Carolina women’s tennis advanced to the second round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend with a 4-1 win of Arizona in the first round on Friday. The Gamecocks took the doubles point and three of the six singles matches for the win.

In doubles, all three courts were needed for the decision with South Carolina claiming the No. 1 court 6-0 and Arizona taking the No. 3 court by the same margin.

All eyes turned to Court 2 where junior Sarah Hamner and Misa Malkin were in a close battle with Arizona’s Reece Carter and Martyna Ostrzygalo. The two pairs held each held serve through the first seven games but the Gamecocks were able to get a timely break to go up 5-3 and serve out the match for a 6-3 win to clinch the doubles point.

In singles, No. 6 Ayana Akli was unstoppable against Carter at the top spot in the lineup. The graduate swept her match 6-1, 6-1 to claim the first singles point of the day.

Arizona’s only point on the board came from the No. 6 spot in the lineup where junior Olympe Lancelot was bested by Brandelyn Flugenzi.

Graduate Elise Mills was the next Gamecock to record a win, hers at the No. 5 spot in the lineup. Mills battled through a close first set and came out on the right side of a tiebreaker 7-6(6) before going on the dominate the second set 6-2 for the win.

The match clinch also came from a graduate with Shahar Biran recording her first career dual match win as a Gamecock at the No. 3 position. Biran and her opponent Teja Tirunelveli split the first two sets but Biran dug deep to claim the first set 6-2 for the win.

South Carolina now moves on to the second round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend where they will face No. 4 Georgia Saturday. The match will begin at 2:30 p.m. in Athens with live stats and streaming available here.

For all the latest South Carolina women’s tennis information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockWTennis).

South Carolina 4, Arizona 1

Doubles (order of finish: 3, 2, 1)

  1. Ayana Akli/Olympe Lancelot (SCAR) def. Brandelyn Fulgenzi/Lauren Friedman (ARIZ) 6-0
  2. Sarah Hamner/Misa Malkin (SCAR) def. Reece Carter/Martyna Ostrzygalo (ARIZ) 6-3
  3. Kayla Wilkins/Teja Tirunelveli (ARIZ) def. Shahar Biran/Elise Mills (SCAR) 6-0 

Singles (order of finish: 1, 6, 5, 3)

  1. #6 Ayana Akli (SCAR) def. Reece Carter (ARIZ) 6-1, 6-1
  2. #4 Sarah Hamner (SCAR) vs. Martyna Ostrzygalo (ARIZ) 7-5, 6-6 (4-5), unfinished
  3. #76 Shahar Biran (SCAR) def. Teja Tirunelveli (ARIZ) 6-2, 4-6, 6-2
  4. Misa Malkin (SCAR) vs. Midori Castillo-Meza (ARIZ) 4-6, 6-4, 0-2, unfinished
  5. Elise Mills (SCAR) def. Kayla Wilkins (ARIZ) 7-6 (8-6), 6-2
  6. Tanvi Narendran (ARIZ) def. Olympe Lancelot (SCAR) 6-1, 6-4

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