Stillwater, Okla. – No. 41 South Carolina women’s tennis will travel to Stillwater, Okla., for a Saturday doubleheader where they will take on Wichita State and No. 49 Oklahoma State on Sat., Feb. 25. The match against the Shockers will begin at 11:30 a.m. ET with the match against the Cowgirls to follow at 4 p.m. ET.
Live stats versus Wichita State can be found here with live streaming here. Live stats against Oklahoma State can be found here with live streaming here.
Gamecock Notables
- The Gamecocks are on a three-match win streak with sweeps of Coastal Carolina and Yale, and a 4-3 comeback win over Wake Forest. They have a 4-3 record on the season and are 1-0 when playing at a neutral site and 0-2 when playing true away matches.
- South Carolina is ranked No. 41 in the latest ITA Team rankings. They have two singles players ranked in the top-12 of the ITA Singles Rankings and are one of only two schools who are able to boast this claim.
- Senior Ayana Akli will enter the weekend as the reigning SEC Player of the Week. Akli is on a nine-match singles win streak and is a perfect 6-0 from the top spot in the lineup. She has ranked singles wins in dual play over Nos. 13, 29, and 34. Akli is No. 10 in the latest ITA singles rankings, the highest singles ranking of her career.
- Sophomore Sarah Hamner has returned to the lineup for the Gamecocks after having missed the beginning of the dual season due to an ankle injury. Hamner is ranked No. 12 by the ITA and has an overall singles record of 12-6 this season.
- Freshman McKenna Schaefbauer had a perfect performance this past weekend, picking up two singles wins and two doubles wins. Both of Shaefbauer’s singles wins came in straight sets, giving her a total of four singles wins in her early career. The freshman’s two doubles wins both came with Hamner as her partner – 6-2 over Jamie Kim and Vivian Cheng of Yale and 6-4 over Nevena Carton and Whitley Pate of Wake Forest.
Scouting the Shockers
- Wichita State is 5-2 on the season with their only losses coming against Kansas and Tulsa, both on the road.
- The Shockers have been lead this season by graduate transfer Jessica Anzo from Texas A&M. Anzo has a 1-4 record from the No. 1 position and 4-7 overall singles record.
- Wichita State’s doubles have been lead by the duo of LingWei Kong and Natsumi Kurahashi. The pair is 3-1 from the No. 1 doubles position and have an overall record of 7-7.
- Also in doubles, Anzo and her partner Kris Kudryavtseva…