Hamner Tabbed Co-SEC Player of the Week

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina women’s tennis senior Sarah Hamner was named Co-Player of the Week, announced by the Southeastern Conference on Wednesday afternoon. She shares the honor with Georgia’s Anastasiia Lopata.

This marks the first time that Hamner has received an SEC weekly award.

The Gamecocks opened SEC play on the road against the No. 1 team in the country, Georgia. Despite South Carolina dropping the match 1-6, Hamner provided the team with a singles and doubles win.

The senior paired up with Kaitlyn Carnicella for the first time this season, starting off on a high note after taking down the No. 25 pair in the NCAA 6-4 to grab a ranked win and secure South Carolina with its lone doubles victory of the match.

In singles action Hamner faced the No. 1 player in the country, Dasha Vidamanova. She dropped the first set 4-6 but staged a comeback for the second, winning a tightly contested set in a tiebreaker 7-6 (8-6). Despite Georgia already having clinched the match, Hamner continued to be valiant against Vidamanova in the super tiebreaker set where she won by three points on a forced error due to the senior’s powerful serve.

Hamner’s monumental win marked the second time in five years that a Gamecock has defeated the top singles player in the country. Alum Gamarra Martins last accomplished this in 2019, also against a Georgia player.

The Gamecocks continue SEC play at home, hosting Florida on Fri., Feb. 28 at 3:00 p.m.

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