Women’s Tennis Earns Bid to 29th Consecutive NCAA Tournament
Columbia, S.C. – The 19th-ranked South Carolina women’s tennis team earned a bid to its 29th consecutive NCAA Tournament, the organization announced during its Monday evening selection show. The Gamecocks will face Old Dominion in the first round of the tournament at NC State. The Gamecocks last faced the Monarchs in the first round of the 2023 NCAA tournament in Chapel Hill with Old Dominion taking the match.
First round action will take place for South Carolina in Raleigh, N.C., and begins on Saturday, May 6 at the J. W. Isenhour Tennis Complex. NC State will face South Carolina State in the other first-round match with the winners meeting in the second round on Sunday for a chance to advance to the super regionals.
Heading into NCAA competition, the Gamecocks are 17-7 in dual matches with an 8-5 mark in conference play. They tallied four top-25 wins this season with the highest over then-No. 13 Auburn. When playing on the road, the Gamecocks are 4-4 this season and are 2-2 when playing at a neutral site.
South Carolina has two players in the singles rankings in No. 10 Ayana Akli and No. 17 Sarah Hamner. The pair is ranked No. 26 in the doubles ranking with Akli also at No. 67 with Olympe Lancelot. Akli and Hamner were both recently announced as members of the All-SEC First Team with both Gamecocks earning the honor for the third consecutive season.
South Carolina is one of nine SEC teams to make the 2024 NCAA Tournament field, including four that will host the opening rounds of the event. Hosting the event will be Georgia (7), Texas A&M (13), Florida (14), and Tennessee (16). Alabama, Vanderbilt, Auburn, and LSU are also in the 64-team field.
The NCAA Singles and Doubles selections will be released by the NCAA on Tuesday in a press release.
For all the latest South Carolina women’s tennis information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockWTennis).
Schedule
Saturday, May 6
11:00 a.m. – South Carolina vs. Old Dominion
2:00 p.m. – South Carolina State vs. NC State
Sunday, May 6
2:00 p.m. – Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2
