Women's Tennis . March 25, 2021

Gamecocks Earn Third Consecutive Victory, Beat Mississippi State 4-1

South Carolina Improves to 4-5 in SEC Play

STARKVILLE, Miss. — The No. 39 South Carolina women’s tennis team recorded its third consecutive victory Thursday by defeating Mississippi State by a 4-1 margin in Starkville, Miss., at the Rula Tennis Pavilion.

The Gamecocks improved to 7-9 overall and 4-5 in the SEC, while the loss dropped the Bulldogs to 10-7 and 2-7 in the conference.

Doubles Recap

The Gamecocks had a rough outing up and down the doubles lineup, falling behind 4-1 on all three courts. Mississippi State ended up earning its first victory at the No. 2 position where Emma Antonaki and Marta Falceto defeated Emma Shelton and Silvia Chinellato by a 6-2 count. Soon afterward, No. 18 Magda Adaloglou and Tamara Racine downed No. 15 Megan Davies and Mia Horvit on court one by the same score to put the Bulldogs ahead 1-0 heading to singles play.

Play stopped at No. 3 doubles once the point was decided. MSU’s Chloe Cirotte and Alexandra Mikhailuk led the Gamecocks’ Ana Cruz and Allie Gretkowski 5-2.

Singles Recap

South Carolina put its doubles performance in the rearview mirror and responded in a big way with singles play. After several games, the Gamecocks had leads on every court except the No. 3 position where Emma Shelton fell behind 4-2 to No. 61 Magda Adaloglou. Shelton, though, fought back to take four straight games to give the Gamecocks a clean sweep of every first set, putting the Bulldogs at a huge disadvantage to overcome.

Ana Cruz finished first at the No. 6 position with a 6-3, 6-3 triumph versus Chloe Cirotte to tie up the score, and No. 85 Mia Horvit closed out her contest soon afterward on court one with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Tamara Racine to give the Gamecocks a 2-1 lead. It appeared Shelton might add Carolina’s third point, as she raced out to a 3-0 advantage over Adaloglou in the second set. Adaloglou, though, regained her composure and ended up forcing a third set with a 6-4 win in the second.

Gretkowski, meanwhile, remained steady in her match at No. 5 singles with Alexandra Mikhailuk, and she managed to close out both sets while leading 5-4 to earn the 6-4, 6-4 triumph and put the Gamecocks within a point of completing the comeback. With Shelton in a third set and Silvia Chinellato going to a third on court four against Lilian Poling, court two was Carolina’s best chance at finishing off the contest quickly.

At No. 2, Megan Davies held off No. 19-ranked Emma Antonaki for a 6-4 win in the first set. After going back and forth in the second, Davies found herself with a chance to serve out the match leading 5-4. At 15-all, Davies was relentless in tracking down every shot the left-handed Antonaki hit her way, and it was three unforced errors in a row that ultimately gave Davies and the Gamecocks the win. Davies’ 6-4, 6-4 win over the nation’s No. 19 player marked the Gamecocks’ best ranked singles win this season, and it was the highest ranked win of Davies’ career.

With the match in hand, play was suspended on courts three and four. At three, Shelton and Adaloglou were tied 2-all in the third, while Chinellato had a 4-2 lead over Poling at four.

Notes

For the first time this season, the Gamecocks won a match in which they lost the doubles point.
Megan Davies’ win over Emma Antonaki, ranked No. 19, is South Carolina’s best ranked singles victory this season. It was also the highest ranked win of Davies’ career.
South Carolina kicked off singles play by winning the first sets on all six courts.
Mia Horvit won her 95th career singles match. She needs one more to tie Natasa Vuckovic (2005-09) for sixth place on the Gamecocks’ all-time list. Horvit also has 170 combined singles/doubles victories in her career, tying Gira Schofield (2005-09) for ninth place.
Head coach Kevin Epley is now six career wins shy of 300 for his career.
The Gamecocks are now 31-2 all-time against Mississippi State and have won five straight over the Bulldogs.
South Carolina remains unbeaten versus Mississippi State in Starkville, improving its all-time record to 14-0 when facing the Bulldogs on their home courts.