Columbia, S.C. – No. 27 South Carolina women’s tennis will hit the road this weekend for a pair of top-15 SEC matches. The Gamecocks will head to Athen, Ga., to take on No. 5 Georgia before making their way to Knoxville, Tenn., to battle against No. 15 Tennessee.
With rain in the forecast on Friday in Athens and no indoor courts available, the match against the Bulldogs, originally scheduled for Friday, April 7, has been moved up to Thursday, April 6 at 1:00 p.m. Sunday’s match at Tennessee will continue as scheduled on Sunday, April 9 at noon.
Live stats and streaming for Thursday’s match at Georgia will be available here. Streaming and stat links against Tennessee will be made available at a later date.
Gamecock Notables
- South Carolina enters the weekend on a six-match SEC win streak with home wins over No. 68 Kentucky, No. 23 Vanderbilt, No. 54 Arkansas, and Missouri, as well as road wins over Ole Miss and Mississippi State.
- The Gamecocks are currently ranked No. 27 in the nation but have been ranked as high as No. 25 this season.
- In the ITA Singles Rankings, two Gamecocks find themselves in the top-20 – No. 8 Ayana Akli and No. 19 Sarah Hamner.
- Akli enters the weekend on a 17-match win singles win streak with eight of the last nine wins coming over ranked opponents. She is a perfect 14-0 in dual play and 8-0 against SEC opponents, all from the No. 1 position.
- Hamner has an overall record of 18-9 this season and a 6-4 record in dual play. She is 5-4 from the No. 2 spot in the lineup and 1-0 from the No. 1 position.
- Both sophomore Misa Malkin and senior Elise Mills enter the weekend with five-match win streaks in singles. Malkin has made her way up to No. 4 in the lineup this season where she is 4-0 and is a perfect 5-0 in SEC play. Mills finds herself at the No. 5 position where she is 5-1 and clinched the decisive point versus No. 54 Arkansas this past weekend.
- Akli and Hamner are also ranked together in the ITA Doubles Rankings, coming in at No. 48. The duo is 12-7 overall and 5-2 in dual play, all from the top spot in the lineup.
- Another staple of the doubles lineup this season has been Allie Gretkowski and Ana Cruz. The duo is 13-5 overall and 10-3 in dual play. The are 5-3 from the No. 2 position and 5-0 from the No. 3 position with a perfect 6-0 record against SEC opponents.
Scouting the Bulldogs
- Georgia is 15-4 this season with an 8-1 mark in SEC play. They are a perfect 9-0 when playing on their home courts.
- The…