Women's Tennis . February 19, 2021

Gamecocks Drop SEC Opener at Auburn

South Carolina Looks to Rebound at Alabama on Sunday

AUBURN, Ala. — The 20th-ranked South Carolina women’s tennis team dropped its opening SEC match of the season on the road at Auburn on Friday by a 4-2 score.

The loss dropped the Gamecocks to 3-5 overall on the season, while the Tigers improved to 6-1 and snapped a three-match losing streak to South Carolina.

Doubles Recap

The Gamecocks took the early advantage in doubles by snagging 3-0 leads on courts two and three, while Auburn grabbed the upper hand at one by a 2-0 margin. At three, Allie Gretkowski and Ana Cruz surrendered a game to Carolyn Ansari and Madeline Meredith to make it 3-1, but they recovered quickly and ran off another three games to secure the 6-1 win to finish first.

Auburn’s No. 11-rated tandem of Selin Ovunc and Taylor Russo answered back by pulling out a 6-3 victory over No. 29 Mia Horvit and Megan Davies on court one. After Auburn led 2-0, the Gamecocks got back on serve and the match remained that way at 3-all. Ovunc and Russo then charged ahead by running off three consecutive games to post the win.

After No. 20-ranked Emma Shelton and Silvia Chinellato went up 3-0 on Auburn’s Adeline Flach and Georgie Axon at two, the Tiger duo bounced back to take a 4-3 lead. From there, the Gamecocks broke serve and then held to regain the advantage and put the match back on serve. Shelton and Chinellato managed another break in the ensuing game to secure the victory and hand South Carolina a 1-0 advantage heading to singles play.

Singles Recap

South Carolina quickly took a 2-0 lead in singles, as No. 34 Mia Horvit made short work of No. 62 Selin Ovunc by scores of 6-0, 6-1. Horvit won eight straight games to begin the match before handing Ovunc what turned out to be her only game of the contest. It marked the Gamecocks’ best win against a ranked individual this spring.

The next four matches to finish, though, all ended in Auburn’s favor. Carolyn Ansari recorded the first point for the Tigers, coming back to defeat No. 93 Emma Shelton in three sets 4-6, 6-1, 6-2. Yu Chen tied the match up at 2-all after she pulled the upset on court two over No. 30 Megan Davies in straight sets 6-4, 6-4, and No. 99 Taylor Russo pushed Auburn ahead for good after she outlasted Allie Gretkowski in three sets 6-4, 5-7, 6-1. It was a race to the finish line between courts four and six, and Georgie Axon got there first by fending off Silvia Chinellato 7-6(8), 7-5 at the No. 4 position for the clincher.

The only match left on court at six between Auburn’s Adeline Flach and South Carolina’s Gabriela Martinez was stopped in the third set. Martinez won the first 6-3 and Flach won the second by the same score and led 5-2 in the third.

Notes

South Carolina has won the doubles point five times in eight matches this season.
Ana Cruz and Allie Gretkowski improved to 3-0 together this spring at No. 3 doubles.
Mia Horvit picked up the Gamecocks’ best ranked singles win of the season by defeating No. 62 Selin Ovunc.
Mia Horvit now has 91 career singles victories and needs just one more to tie Brigit Folland for eighth place on the Gamecocks’ all-time wins list.
The Gamecocks had their three-match unbeaten streak against Auburn snapped but still lead the all-time series 31-10. South Carolina is now 11-7 on the Tigers’ home courts.