The Daily Gamecock

Women's tennis looks ahead to postseason

The South Carolina women’s tennis team concluded a solid regular season this weekend, securing a No. 3 seed in the 2018 SEC Tournament with a conference record of 11-2.

This past Saturday, head coach Kevin Epley and his team shut down Kentucky with a 4-0 sweep. The Gamecocks' current SEC record is their best in conference play in program history, and  finished third in the SEC for the first time since the 1996 season.


“Today was a great way to close out the season and set the stage for the SEC Tournament,” Epley said. “I was really happy with how we competed and handled ourselves mentally today. After today, it’s clear this team is ready for the tournament, and we are fired up for next week.”

However, South Carolina still has much to prove in the postseason starting on Friday, in hopes to play in the SEC Championship. They will continue to look to senior Hadley Berg for leadership and direction on the court, as well as to Paige Cline, Megan Davies and Kennedy Wicker for their continued strong performances in doubles.

Cline is a player to rely on and draw strength from during her single matches. She was able to lead South Carolina 2-0 against Kentucky to win in straight sets, her seventh straight win in SEC play. 

The Gamecocks record-breaking season has helped to build the team's national profile. In addition to leading the team to a record number of SEC wins, Epley and associate coach Jeff Nevolo have earned the second-longest win streak in program history, which ran from Feb. 24 to March 31. 

Not only is the program itself having a memorable season, but so is Berg. She will look to become the fourth player in school history to notch 100 wins. Berg is just three wins away from the milestone and boasts a winning percentage of .746.

With both personal and team goals, the Gamecocks will start their postseason run against the winner of match four in the quarterfinals starting at 12 p.m. South Carolina has the potential of then playing in the semifinals on Saturday and then the SEC Championship match at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. 


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