COLUMBIA, S.C. – After spending its first two weeks of the 2023 season on the road, No. 19 South Carolina (5-4) opens the home schedule with the Carolina Challenge, running March 10-11 at Wheeler Beach. The Gamecocks face Stephen F. Austin at 11 a.m. and No. 12 Stetson at 5 p.m. on Friday, then Tulane at 11 a.m. and UNCW at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
This spring, attendance at home matches at Wheeler Beach is again free and open to the general public. Please continue to follow the athletics department’s clear bag policy. Fan entrance is only permitted on the north side of the facility through the main gate and only participating teams and game-day personnel are permitted on the sand surface.
TIGER BEACH CHALLENGE NOTABLES
- Five individuals notched their first wins of the season over the weekend, with two Gamecocks – freshman Sadie Nelson and junior Riley Whitesides – winning their first career matches.
- Injuries forced the lineup into shuffled looks all weekend, but gave valuable experience to the team’s depth. Over the five duals, the Gamecocks used 13 different pairs and all 14 individuals who traveled to LSU made at least one start.
- Junior Hannah Mackenhausen moved from the No. 3 pairing up to No. 2 for the final three duals of the weekend, but she still continued to win. Her 5-0 weekend as an individual moved her to 50 career wins, making her the 11th member of the program to reach the career milestone. On the way to her 50 wins, Mackenhausen holds a .685 win percentage.
- Mackenhausen was part of another milestone moment over the weekend. She paired back up with Kaeli Crews and went 3-0 on court two, which included a sweep of No. 5 LSU. The duo now has 22 career wins together, dating back to last season, only seven other Gamecock pairs in program history have more victories together.
- Senior Skylar Allen went 3-2 on court one over the weekend, pushing her past 40 career wins in the number one position. She joins Shannon Williams (2016-19) as the only Gamecocks with 40 or more wins at No. 1 in a career.
- Despite losing her week one partner to injury, freshman Jolie Cranford just kept winning. The Colorado native played with three different partners over the five weekend duals – Sammy Ansel, Hailey Cabeceiras and Peyton Gray – but still went 4-1. For the season, Cranford’s 7-2 record is tied for the best on the team, with her only two losses coming to No. 2 Florida State and No. 5 LSU.
PRESEASON NOTABLES
- The…