Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina women’s tennis head coach Kevin Epley announced his team’s Fall 2023 schedule on Friday. The slate includes three road invitationals, a home invitational, and three ITA sanctioned championships.
“We’ve got some big events just from being in the southeast,” said Epley. “In the fall we have some good competition with the North Carolina schools. NC State made the finals of NCAAs, North Carolina won it… Our fall is going to give us a lot of tests as far as the competition. Some of the elite schools are in this area and some of the best players in the country are in this area.”
Fall play will begin just up the road in Greenville, S.C., at the Debbie Southern Furman Fall Classic Sept. 15-17. The Gamecocks look to repeat their success from last season, having won two of the four flights.
The squad will then head north and split between the NC State Ranked +1 and the Charlotte Fall Invite. Members heading to Raleigh will play Sept. 21-24 while those in Charlotte will play Sept. 22-24.
The following weekend, selected members of the team will head back to North Carolina to play in the ITA All-American Championships Sept. 30-Oct. 8 in Cary. Pre-qualifying will take place Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 with qualifying to follow on Oct. 2 and 3. The main draw will run Oct. 4-8.
After a week off, the Gamecocks will make another trip up to North Carolina with the whole squad heading to Chapel Hill for the ITA Carolina Regional Championships Oct. 19-23. Junior Sarah Hamner looks to repeat her success from last season, having claimed the 2022 title.
The lone home event of the fall will take place Oct. 27-29 at the Carolina Tennis Center. The annual Gamecock Shootout will be free and open to the public.
Fall play will conclude with qualifying members traveling to San Diego, Calif., for the ITA Fall National Championships Nov. 1-5.
Throughout the fall semester, members of the team will travel to ITF Futures events across the country in an attempt to pick up WTA points and climb in the WTA rankings. Dates, times, and locations for these events will be announced at a later date.
The Gamecocks ended the 2022-23 season in their 28th consecutive NCAA Championship appearance and will return two NCAA Singles Championship qualifiers for the 2023-24 season.
For all the latest South Carolina women’s tennis information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockWTennis).
Fall 2023 South Carolina…