
Women’s Tennis Begins 2025 Spring Schedule at Home
COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 20 South Carolina women’s tennis competes in a pair of dual matches at home this weekend to open the 2025 spring schedule. The Gamecocks will welcome two in-state programs, Charleston Southern and Coastal Carolina, to the Carolina Indoor Tennis Center on Sun., Feb. 19 at noon and 4:00 p.m. respectively.
Gamecock Notables
- In the ITA Preseason Coaches Poll released earlier this month, South Carolina was ranked No. 20. In the SEC preseason poll the Gamecocks were predicted to finish No. 10 at the conference championship.
- A pair of Gamecocks, Sarah Hamner and Kaitlyn Carnicella, represent the Garnet & Black in the ITA singles and doubles rankings. Hamner sits at No. 17 while Carnicella is No. 39. In doubles, the two are No. 41.
- Two of the five athletes who signed to the team back in November,
- Bella Bergkvist Larsson and Anna Claire Roof, have debuted as Gamecocks and will be starting their collegiate career this upcoming season.
Fall Recap
- South Carolina wrapped up the 2024 fall season with a 33-27 (9-9 ranked) overall singles record and 12-8 (3-1 ranked) doubles record after competing in five total tournaments.
- Hamner (No. 10) and Helena Buchwald (No. 16) saw ITA Preseason Singles and Newcomer Singles rankings respectively. Hamner & Carnicella (No. 27) and Olympe Lancelot & Buchwald (No. 89) were ranked by the association for preseason doubles.
- Hamner and Carnicella earned ranked wins over SEC foes at ITA All-Americans in September. The pair defeated No. 18 DJ Bennett and Ava Hrastar 6-3, 1-6, 10-5. Hamner topped No. 29 Emily De Oliveira of Florida 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4 in singles.
- At the Debbie Southern Furman Fall Classic, Anna Kantor and Lauren Friedman claimed the flight 4 doubles title, defeating a pair from Furman 6-2.
- At the ITA Carolina Regionals, two Gamecocks (Carnicella and Misa Malkin) both advanced to semifinals in singles of the main draw stage.
- Hamner went on to win the singles title at the ITA East Sectional Championship after defeating Carson Tanguilig of UNC 6-1, 6-4. At the same tournament, Carnicella advanced to semifinals before dropping her match to Tanguilig.
- Both Hamner and Carnicella qualified for the NCAA Individual Championship, Hamner for the fourth consecutive season and Carnicella for the first time in her collegiate career.
- At NCAAs, Carnicella dropped her match in the first round while Hamner advanced to the round of 32 before dropping her match to No.33 Katja Wiersholm from Cal 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(6).
Scouting the Buccaneers
- Charleston Southern will also be opening its 2025 dual match season this Sunday against the Gamecocks.
- The Buccaneers finished the 2023-24 season with a 12-7 (4-1 conference) overall record, narrowly falling 3-4 to UNC Asheville in the Big South Championship match.
- Returner Marina Skegro led the team with a 12-2 singles record.
- The Buccaneers’ 2024 fall season came to a close at the ITA Conference Masters Tournament with both their singles (Skegro) and doubles (Noa Boyd and Amila Jusufbegovic) entrees advancing to the round of 16.
Scouting the Chanticleers
- Along with South Carolina and Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina begins its 2025 spring schedule this weekend in Columbia.
- The Chanticleers went 14-9 (7-4 conference) for the 2023-24 schedule, ending with a 0-4 loss in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Championship to South Alabama who was No. 74 at the time.
- Coastal had a strong 2024 fall season highlighted by Aida Mitrache winning the singles title at the NCCU Invitational. The duo of Brooke Rogers and Katya Hersh advanced to the doubles final at the same tournament.
Series Record
- The Gamecocks lead both programs in the all-time series history.
- Against Charleston Southern, South Carolina leads 6-0 with all six wins happening at home. The Gamecocks last faced the Buccaneers on Feb. 25, 2024.
- The Gamecocks lead Coastal 8-0, also with all wins taking place in Columbia. South Carolina last faced the Chanticleers almost exactly a year ago on Jan. 21.
Follow Along
- Both matches will be live streamed on TrackTennis and live scoring will be available to view on StatBroadcast.
- Click for the Charleston Southern live stream and live scoring.
- Click for the Coastal Carolina live stream and live scoring.
For the latest South Carolina women’s tennis information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockWTennis).