Epley earns win against former school in victory over William & Mary
In the four days between a crushing 5-2 defeat at the hands of in-state rival Clemson and a busy weekend slate consisting of three matches, coach Kevin Epley emphasized mental fortitude to his Gamecocks women’s tennis team.
South Carolina responded with a weekend sweep to wrap up the nonconference portion of their spring season with a record of 9-2.
After beating South Carolina State 6-1 in the first match of their Friday doubleheader, the 33rd-ranked Gamecocks didn’t miss a step against North Florida, handing the Ospreys their first loss of the season with a 7-0 triumph.
The toughest of South Carolina’s three weekend matches figured to be Sunday’s battle with No. 55 William & Mary, Epley’s previous stop in his head coaching career before taking over in Columbia.
However, the Gamecocks caught a break when the Tribe was forced to forfeit its No. 3 doubles match and No. 6 singles match due to a lack of healthy players. South Carolina cruised to a 7-0 victory, not dropping a set along the way.
Epley noticed a completely different team at the Carolina Tennis Center this weekend compared to the one that took the courts in the loss to Clemson.
“I feel like we adjusted more. I feel like we were trying to do things we can do,” Epley said. “I don’t think we panicked. We were very clear of what our purpose was going out in the matches, which sort of took some of the pressure off and let us just play.”
According to Epley, the team’s negativity from last weekend’s disappointing result subsided and transformed into optimism throughout the week of practice.
Junior Elixane Lechemia said that the team had to look at the state of their team mentally, emotionally and physically with conference play looming.
“We worked a lot this week about being really tough and I think it paid off,” Lechemia said. “Everybody was on the same page this weekend.”
In Lechemia’s three straight-set victories this weekend, she lost more than one game just once in six sets. The Lyon, France native has now won eight of her ten matches in the spring season.
Epley acknowledged the difference in Lechemia’s approach in her most recent matches.
“She had a great weekend. I think last weekend in singles she just wasn’t playing her game. She was tight, timid, and playing afraid,” Epley said. “That was really the focus of this week was to stop playing afraid and just play like you can play – being aggressive, coming in and going after your serve. She committed to that and the results speak for themselves.”
Another bright spot for the Gamecocks this weekend was the play of doubles duo Katerina Popova and Brigit Folland. With three victories out of the No. 2 doubles spot the pair improved to 7-0 in the spring season when playing together, highlighted by an 8-0 win on Sunday.
With Southeastern Conference play set to start up on Friday when South Carolina hosts Missouri, the busy weekend served as the Gamecocks’ last tune-up. The SEC currently holds six of the nation’s top-19 teams, meaning players can expect a step up in competition.
Overall, Epley was pleased with the adjustments his team has made in preparation for a demanding conference slate.
“We just came out last week trying to do too many things,” Epley said. “So we had to keep it simple.”