No. 11 Gamecocks Fall at No. 3 Georgia

April 17, 2016

Pos.	*Singles (4, 1, 5, 2)**	Score
1.	#4 Ellen Perez (UGA) d. #83 Caroline Dailey (SC)	7-5, 6-3
2.	#46 Kennedy Shaffer (UGA) d. #75 Ingrid Gamarra Martins (SC)	6-4, 6-3
3.	#84 Paige Cline (SC) vs. #86 Silvia Garcia (UGA)	susp.
4.	#29 Caroline Brinson (UGA) d. Hadley Berg (SC)	6-3, 6-2
5.	Brigit Folland (SC) d. Mariana Gould (UGA)	6-4, 6-2
6.	Ximena Siles Luna (SC) vs. Laura Patterson (UGA)	susp.

Pos.	*Doubles (1, 3)**	Score
1.	#20 Perez/Gould (UGA) d. #24 Berg/Cline (SC)	6-2
2.	Dailey/Folland (SC) vs. #67 Garcia/Shaffer (UGA)	susp.
3.	Brinson/Patterson (UGA) d. Martins/Rohrabacher (SC)	6-2

ATHENS, Ga. — No. 11 South Carolina women’s tennis dropped its final match of the regular-season at No. 3 Georgia, 4-1, on Sunday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. The Gamecocks fell in doubles, but fought hard in singles before the Bulldogs pulled out wins on three courts to take the victory. Junior Brigit Folland gave the Gamecocks their lone point with a win at No. 5 and became just the fourth Gamecock to earn nine SEC singles victories in a season.

The loss concludes a tremendous regular-season for South Carolina (17-6, 9-4), which finishes tied for fourth in the SEC with No. 12 Auburn. Georgia (18-3, 11-2), meanwhile, clinches another top-3 finish in the SEC standings.

The Bulldogs crept in front early with doubles wins at courts one and three. No. 20 Ellen Perez and Mariana Gould topped No. 25 Hadley Berg and Paige Cline, 6-2, at No. 1, before junior Caroline Brinson and sophomore Laura Patterson topped freshmen Ingrid Gamarra Martins and Rachel Rohrabacher by the same score at No. 3.

Carolina looked to rebound in singles and put together a solid effort. Senior Ximena Siles Luna won her first set at No. 6 while Folland did the same at No. 4. Folland went on to win her match, 6-4, 6-2, giving her four straight wins, a 9-3 SEC mark and a 16-4 overall singles record, which tied Berg and Martins for the team-lead in wins. Siles Luna’s match would be suspended.

Georgia clinched the win thanks to wins at courts one, two and four. No. 29 Brinson won a hard-fought contest over Berg at court four, while No. 4 Perez topped No. 83 Caroline Dailey at court one in a close 7-5, 6-3 battle. No. 36 Kennedy Shaffer clinched the win with a tight 6-4, 6-3 victory over No. 75 Martins.

Quotable

Head Coach Kevin Epley

“We came out ready to play, but Georgia was a little too solid in doubles, and we needed that point. I felt like we could have taken advantage of some opportunities in some instances, but just came up short. Georgia did a great job rebounding from a tough Florida loss. In the end, they were just too good today.”

Match Changer

The Bulldogs took the doubles point and carried the momentum into singles, winning the first set on four courts.

Notables

The Gamecocks finish with their highest SEC finish since 2007 (T4).
South Carolina’s 17 wins matches its most under head coach Kevin Epley.
Junior Brigit Folland tied sophomore Hadley Berg and freshman Ingrid Gamarra Martins for the team-lead in singles wins (23) and tied Berg for the team-lead in dual-match singles wins.
Of Folland’s nine SEC wins, eight came at No. 5, placing her atop the school’s single-season SEC wins list at No. 5 singles.
Senior Ximena Siles Luna heads into the post-season with a four-match winning streak in singles.
Berg is tied for second on the school’s single season SEC wins list at No. 4 singles with seven wins.

Up Next

Carolina will compete in the 2016 SEC Tournament April 20-24 in Baton Rouge, La.