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Women's Tennis To Face South Carolina In NCAA Tournament Opener Friday

2023 NCAA Tournament BracketWomen's Selection Show Highlights
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Rich Von Biberstein / Sun Belt Conference

NORFOLK, Va. – The 33rd-ranked Old Dominion women's tennis team learned its NCAA Tournament location and opponent on Monday night and like the men, they're heading to Chapel Hill, N.C.
 
ODU (18-4) will face 34th-ranked South Carolina (13-10) on Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. at the Chewning Tennis Center on the campus of national top-seed North Carolina. A win will put the Monarchs against the winner of UNC and Charleston Southern on Saturday at 4 p.m.
 
"It's not too far away, we are familiar with their team and they're led by one of the most respected coaches in the country. We are eager to go up against South Carolina in the tournament," said ODU Head Coach Dominic Manilla.
 
The Monarchs have won their last 13 matches and are coming off a trio of 4-0 wins at the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, culminating with a sweep of James Madison on Sunday. ODU only lost two sets in three matches at the tournament.  Alexandra Viktorovitch leads the Monarchs this spring with a 15-3 record, while Shahar Biran and Tatsiana Sasnouskaya have won 13 matches each. In doubles, Sasnouskaya and Sofia Johnson are 13-2 this spring and are ranked 40th nationally. Sasnouskaya is 35th in singles and was the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year.
 
South Carolina enters the tournament after a first-round loss in the SEC Championship to Kentucky 4-3 on April 20. Ayana Akil leads the Gamecocks in wins this spring with a 16-2 record at line one singles. In doubles, Ana Cruz and Allie Gretkowski have a team best 12-5 mark with Akil and Sarah Hammer behind with a 9-2 mark at line one.
 
This will be the second all-time meeting between the schools with South Carolina taking a 7-0 win on March 18, 2012 in Columbia, South Carolina.