No. 11 South Carolina Cruises Past No. 35 Texas A&M, 4-0
March 9, 2018
No. 35 Texas A&M at No. 11 South Carolina
COLUMBIA, S.C. — No. 11 South Carolina women’s tennis (11-3, 3-0 SEC) earned its second straight sweep over a ranked opponent with a 4-0 defeat over No. 35 Texas A&M on Friday at the Carolina Tennis Center.
Earning the doubles point and three straight singles wins from Rachel Rohrabacher, No. 29 Hadley Berg and Paige Cline, the Gamecocks improved to 7-0 at home this season.
DOUBLES
The Gamecocks started off strong in doubles play, jumping out to early leads on all three courts. Rachel Rohrabacher and Megan Davies were the first to secure their match with a 6-1 victory over Riley McQuaid and Dorthea Faa-Hviding on Court 3. The South Carolina duo is now 7-0 in 2018 doubles play, and owns a seven-match winning streak dating back to Jan. 13, 2018 against Kansas.
The All-American duo of Paige Cline and Hadley Berg captured the team doubles point with a 6-1 victory over Eva Paalma and Domenica Gonzalez, marking its third straight win at No. 1 doubles. The tandem won five straight games before dropping its first, but bounced back to take the match, 6-1, improving to 5-2 in 2018 dual match play.
“I think the doubles really stood out tonight,” head coach Kevin Epley said. “We’ve had five doubles points that we have won in a row and we were hoping we could carry that over into today’s match, come out with good energy and we really came off strong. We had a lot of touches and our energy was great. It was nice to see. Getting that point in the bank going into singles really helps a lot.”
DOUBLES
1. Paige Cline / Hadley Berg (SC) def. Eva Paalma/Domenica Gonzalez (A&M) 6-1
2. Ingrid Gamarra Martins / Mia Horvit (SC) vs. Macarena Olivares/Tatiana Makarova (A&M) 5-1, unfinished
3. Megan Davies / Rachel Rohrabacher (SC) def. Riley McQuaid/Dorthea Faa-Hviding (A&M) 6-1
Order of finish
3, 1
SINGLES
With a 1-0 lead over the Aggies after doubles, the Gamecocks took control of the match in singles by rattling off three straight victories. Rachel Rohrabacher made quick work of her opponent, Dorthea Faa-Hviding, winning in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. The junior is undefeated in dual match play at 6-0 at No. 6 singles and all six of those victories have come in straight sets.
“Rachel (Rohrabacher) has just been on fire,” Epley said. “In fact, today, I said we got to a slow start in singles. She did not. She just hit the ground running. Got some points on the board early that kind of buoyed everybody else. Everybody else started to feel a little bit safer. We talked about that at the meeting. She did a great job at that. She’s coming to play at every match, so she’s been a big part of our success thus far.”
Next off the court was No. 29 Hadley Berg, who mounted a huge first set comeback on Court 2 against Macarena Olivares. Berg, who is the reigning SEC Player of the Week, found herself in a two-game hole to start the first set, but was able to overcome it for a 6-4 win. From there, the senior had momentum in her favor and cruised to a 6-1 victory in the second set. With the win, Berg has won four straight singles matches and is 7-2 in dual match play.
Paige Cline clinched the match for the Gamecocks with a 6-4, 6-1 victory on Court 4 over Tatiana Makarova. Similar to Berg, Cline was in a 1-2 hole to start her match, but garnered two straight games to take a 3-2 lead. In the second set, the South Carolina junior rattled off four straight game victories en route to a commanding 6-4, 6-1 victory. Cline is 4-1 in dual match play and all of her dual match victories have come in straight sets.
SINGLES
1. #110 Ingrid Gamarra Martins (SC) vs. #111 Domenica Gonzalez (A&M) 6-4, 4-4, unfinished
2. #29 Hadley Berg (SC) def. Macarena Olivares (A&M) 6-4, 6-1
3. Mia Horvit (SC) vs. Eva Paalma (A&M) 6-4, 4-4, unfinished
4. Paige Cline (SC) def. Tatiana Makarova (A&M) 6-4, 6-1
5. #121 Megan Davies (SC) vs. Riley McQuaid (A&M) 7-6 (8-6), 1-3, unfinished
6. Rachel Rohrabacher (SC) def. Dorthea Faa-Hviding (A&M) 6-2, 6-2
Order of finish
6, 2, 4
QUOTABLE
GAMECOCK NOTABLES
- The Gamecocks have taken the doubles point in six straight matches this season.
- Rohrabacher and Davies lead the Gamecocks at 7-0 in 2018 doubles play.
- With the win, South Carolina is 3-2 against ranked opponents this season. It faced its other ranked opponents at No. 7 Ole Miss and at ITA Indoors from Feb. 9-11, defeating No. 11 Texas and falling to No. 9 Duke and No. 13 UCLA.
- Berg’s 19-3 singles record this season has her at 93-30 overall, seven shy of 100 on her career, with a winning percentage of .756 that ranks seventh in school history. Berg has surpassed Brigit Folland on the career list for singles wins with 93. She is looking to become just the fourth player in school history with 100 wins.
- The Gamecocks have amassed seven sweeps this season: Oklahoma, Clemson, North Florida, Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina, No. 7 Ole Mis and No. 35 Texas A&M.
- Prior to entering Saturday’s match, Macarena Olivares was the sole Aggie who was still undefeated in conference play at 2-0, including a victory in straight sets over No. 53 Kennedy Shaffer of Georgia. Berg ended that bid, with her win in singles on Court 2.
- South Carolina is now 9-5 all-time against Texas A&M, including a 4-2 road win in March of last season.
- The Gamecocks are 7-0 at home this season, including six sweeps. They have won their last six straight matches since Feb. 11, 2018.
- Head Coach Kevin Epley is now five match wins away from reaching 100 at South Carolina and is four wins from 250 overall on his career.
UP NEXT FOR THE GAMECOCKS
The Gamecocks will continue their SEC home weekend with a match against No. 36 LSU at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Carolina Tennis Center. Against LSU, South Carolina holds a 22-6 all-time lead, losing the last matchup in Baton Rouge on March 5.
Following Saturday’s match against No. 36 LSU, the Gamecocks will hit the road for two tough SEC tests at No. 28 Tennessee on March 16 and at No. 7 Georgia on March 18. The Gamecocks are 15-46 all-time against Georgia, and 20-26 all-time against Tennessee. South Carolina holds a three-match winning streak over the Volunteers dating back to April 10, 2015, but lost its past seven matches against the Bulldogs dating back to April 10, 2011.
For updates, continue to check back with GamecocksOnline.com or follow the team on social media (@GamecockWTennis).
