Gamecocks Shine in ITA All-American Main Draws
CARY, N.C. – South Carolina women’s tennis fought to wins in the singles and doubles main draws at the ITA All-American Championships on Wednesday, upending ranked SEC foes in both. Senior Sarah Hamner rallied past a top-30 opponent in singles then teamed with junior transfer Kaitlyn Carnicella to outlast a top-20 duo in doubles.
No. 10 Hamner, who is the eighth seed at the tournament, began her run to repeat her 2021 title at the event facing No. 29 Emily De Oliveira. The Florida Gator struck first, taking the first set 6-2 as the Gamecock senior shook off the rust of her single season debut. Hamner stayed in the fight, pushing the second set to a tiebreak, which she dominated 7-6 (4), before carrying that momentum into the third, which she won 6-4.
In doubles, No. 27 Hamner and Carnicella were the early aggressors against Auburn’s DJ Bennett and Ava Hrastar, who are ranked 18th in the country. After claiming the first set 6-3, the Gamecock duo saw their opponents level the match with a 6-1 second-set win. The super tiebreak third set went the Gamecocks way early as the first-year duo locked down the 10-5 victory.
Thursday’s schedule includes one round of singles and one of doubles. Hamner will battle No. 42 Bianca Fernandez of UCLA in singles. In doubles, the Gamecocks will face either No. 1 Anastasiya Komar and Ange Oby Kajuru of Oklahoma State or No. 17 Reece Carter and Alexia Jacobs of Washington.
Complete draws, schedules and results for the ITA All-American Championships will be posted on the ITA Tournament Page. Cracked Racquets will stream Main Draw matches on the ITA YouTube channel, and matches will also stream on PlaySight.
Under the new format for NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships, players and doubles teams in the ITA All-American Championships can qualify right into the NCAA Championships bracket. From singles, eight main draw quarterfinalists and two feed-in consolation finalists will punch their ticket directly into the NCAA Singles Championships. The four main draw doubles semifinalists will join them in the NCAA Doubles Championships.
Continue to check GamecocksOnline.com and the team’s social media accounts (@GamecockWTennis) for the most up-to-date information on the women’s tennis season.
South Carolina Results – Main Draw
Singles Round of 64
(10) Sarah Hamner (SC) def. (29) Emily De Oliveira (FL) 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4
Doubles Round of 32
(27) Sarah Hamner/Kaitlyn Carnicella (SC) def. (18) DJ Bennett/Ava Hrastar (AUB) 6-3, 1-6, 10-5
