Gamecocks open SEC Tournament against Rebels
The South Carolina women’s tennis team will seek to cement a place in the NCAA Tournament when it takes on Ole Miss in the first round of the SEC Tournament in Knoxville, Tenn.
The Gamecocks have played three tough matches against conference opponents in the past two weeks, getting edged 4-3 by both Tennessee and Georgia before being shut out 7-0 by Florida last weekend.
“I think we’ve played really well, and we’ve played with a lot of emotion, especially against Tennessee and Georgia,” coach Arlo Elkins said. “Florida’s awfully tough to play. They’ve won 102 matches in a row at home, so it’s not like anyone has had very good success against them for the past couple of years. But we played with a lot of emotion, and that’s what we’re trying to get everybody to do.”
In order to travel to the team NCAA Tournament, Carolina must maintain a high national ranking, regardless of the SEC Tournament’s outcome. Following the team tournament, there will be an NCAA Tournament where individual singles players and double teams can qualify.
Junior Anya Morgina, who has led the Gamecocks from the No. 1 singles spot this year, will attempt to secure a place in the singles tournament with her play this weekend. In the match against Ole Miss, she will face off against Kristi Boxx. Last time the players met, Morgina came out ahead by a score of 6-2, 6-4.
“[Morgina has] won more matches at No. 1 singles than anybody in the SEC this year with her eight wins,” Elkins said. “The match is important. She’s the one who has to really keep a good attitude out there, and a positive attitude. That’s something that she’s struggled with from time to time this year. That’s the main thing she has to do to be successful.”
As a team, the Gamecocks lost their last match to the Rebels 4-1. Ole Miss clinched the doubles point with victories in No. 1 and No. 2 doubles and finished off the victory by taking the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 singles matches.
USC will field a slightly different lineup in this meeting with Ole Miss. The team will look to Morgina and freshman Dominika Kanakova to set the tone at No. 1 doubles, a spot where the duo has had success recently. They will face Boxx and junior Abby Guthrie.
“We’ll have a couple of different players playing,” Elkins said. “Generally, the top of our lineup will be the same, but at the bottom it’ll be a little different. We know [the Rebels] and what style they play. Hopefully we’ll have [the Gamecocks] ready.”
To come away with a victory, Elkins believes the effort shown in recent matches will be necessary.
“We really want everyone to put forth 100 percent effort on all three doubles courts and all six singles courts,” Elkins continued. “I think we got that effort against Tennessee and Georgia. Hopefully that’ll pay off for us here going into the Ole Miss match.”