Sept. 18, 2015

COLUMBIA, SC – Day one of the fall season is in the books for South Carolina women’s tennis as four players competed at the Tribe Invite hosted by William & Mary. The quartet started the day by going 1-1 in a pair of doubles matches against Dartmouth before sweeping West Virginia 4-0 in singles Friday afternoon.

“It was good to get the wins under our belt today,” said head coach Kevin Epley. “We were a little flat in doubles and came out pretty sloppy in singles, but we ended up turning things around. We got on track towards the end of the day. Hopefully we will start better tomorrow. “

Junior Brigit Folland and freshman Rachel Rohrabacher opened doubles play with a 6-4 win over Allison Chuang and Julienne Keong of Dartmouth in a back-and-forth affair. Sophomore Hadley Berg and freshman Ingrid Gamarra Martins held a 5-4 advantage in their match before falling to Julia Schroeder and Katherine Yau 6-7 (2).

The Gamecocks eventually found their rhythm in their singles matchup with West Virginia this afternoon. Berg, who closed 2015 on a three-match winning streak, picked up right where she left off last season, posting a quick 6-4, 6-1 win over Carolina Lewis.

The Gamecocks received an impressive performance from the two freshmen in singles play as Martins posted a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Abigail Rosiello and Rohrabacher cruised to a 6-3, 6-4 win against Yvon Martinez.

“The surprise of the day was Rachel,” said Epley. “She jumped in and picked things up right away. She was pretty solid.”

Folland trailed 3-4 in her first set before storming back to take the set, 7-5. She closed out Hailey Barrett and recorded her first win of the season 7-5, 6-3.

The Gamecocks resume action tomorrow with doubles play against William & Mary at 9:30 a.m. Carolina then squares off with Maryland in singles play before finishing the day with doubles matches against Marshall.

SINGLES
Hadley Berg (SC) def. Carolina Lewis (WV) 6-4, 6-1
Rachel Rohrabacher (SC) def. Yvon Martinez (WV) 6-3, 6-4
Ingrid Gamarra Martins (SC) def. Abigail Rosiello (WV) 6-2, 6-1
Brigit Folland (SC) def. Hailey Barrett (WV) 7-5, 6-3

DOUBLES
Folland/Rohrabacher (SC) def. Chuang/Keong (Dartmouth) 6-4
Schroeder/Yau (Dartmouth) def. Berg/Martins (SC) 7-6 (2)