Women's Tennis . March 27, 2025

Gamecocks Face Two Ranked Opponents on the Road

STARKVILLE, Miss. – The No. 23 South Carolina’s women’s tennis team hits the road this week for a two-match stretch, heading to No. 66 Mississippi State for a 4:00 p.m. (ET) match on Fri., March 28 before finishing out the week at No. 32 Alabama on Sun., March 30 for a 12:00 p.m. (ET) match.

Gamecock Notables

Records: 10-7 (overall), 5-4 (SEC), 8-1 (home), 1-5 (away)
In the SEC standings, the Gamecocks sit in the middle of the field at 8^th.
South Carolina split its home matches last week, falling 2-4 to No. 12 Oklahoma in its first loss at home of the season before sweeping Arkansas 4-0. Sarah Hamner and Kaitlyn Carnicella scored the Gamecocks points against the Sooners in their singles matchups. Hamner defeated No. 26 Alina Shcherbinina 6-3, 7-5 and Carnicella delivered a ranked upset against No. 19 Julia Garcia Ruiz 6-0, 6-2. The win marked her highest ranked victory this season.
The bottom half of the lineup carried the Gamecocks to victory over Arkansas after Olympe Lancelot & Bella Bergkvist Larsson (6-2) and Lauren Friedman & Helena Buchwald (6-0) won their doubles matches to give South Carolina the 1-0 advantage going into singles play. Misa Malkin (6-0, 6-1), Buchwald (6-3, 6-0) and Larsson (7-5, 6-2) earned singles wins to complete the sweep.
The Gamecocks are represented by Sarah Hamner (No. 23), Kaitlyn Carnicella (No. 93) and Misa Malkin (No. 113) in the ITA rankings. The duo of Hamner & Carnicella are No. 26 in doubles play while Lancelot & Larsson round out the rankings for the Gamecocks at No. 77.

Scouting the Bulldogs

Records: 10-9 (overall), 0-9 (SEC), 10-4 (home), 0-5 (away)
In the SEC standings Mississippi State is ranked 16^th.
The Bulldogs are on a four-match losing streak going into their matchup with the Gamecocks. The team is coming off a 0-4 loss to No. 6 Tennessee.
Jayna Clemens boasts an impressive 10-1 singles record on the season. The Bulldogs have one ranked pair, Athina Pitta & Gianna Oboniye, who are No. 72 in doubles play and are 9-5 in their matches this year.

Scouting the Crimson Tide

Records: 9-8 (overall), 3-6 (SEC), 7-3 (home), 1-4 (away)
Alabama is coming off of a 2-4 loss at Kentucky and a 0-4 loss at No. 6 Tennessee last week. The Tide enter this weekend’s match on a four-game losing streak.
Petra Sedlackova, the team’s only ranked singles player, comes in at No. 75. She is 8-5 in dual matches this season from the No. 1 position and 4-1 in conference play. Maria Martinez Vaquero & Maria Andrienko come in at No. 55 in doubles play with a 8-2 record.
Before taking on the Gamecocks, Alabama hosts No. 1 Georgia on Friday.

Series History

The Gamecocks lead the all-time series against Mississippi State 34-2 and are on an eight-match winning streak.
The Gamecocks lead the all-time series against Alabama 24-12 and are on a 10-match winning streak.

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