March 13, 2015

COLUMBIA, Mo. — The No. 36 South Carolina women’s tennis team registered a 6-1 victory over Missouri on Friday at the Mizzou Tennis Complex in Columbia, Mo., to improve to 9-5 and 2-3 in the SEC. The Tigers dropped to 8-8 and 0-4 in the league.

South Carolina began with a 1-0 lead thanks to a pair of wins in doubles. At three, Elixane Lechemia and Megen Cochran captured an 8-4 victory against Madison Rhyner and Kelli Hine of MU, but the Tigers countered with a win at two, 8-4, by Brianna Lashway and Alex Clark over Brigit Folland and Meghan Blevins. The Gamecocks’ Caroline Dailey and Hadley Berg answered and secured the point with an 8-5 decision over Cassidy Spearman and Brittany Lashway at the top position.

Mizzou struck first in the singles with Bea Machado Santos dropping just one game to Folland at No. 3 singles with a 6-0, 6-1 win. Less than five minutes later, the Gamecocks took the lead for good with Berg upending Brianna Lashway 6-1, 6-2 on court four. Dailey wrapped up her match in the following 10 minutes with a 6-2, 6-2 final over Spearman at two to put Carolina within a point of clinching its second SEC victory. Ximena Siles Luna did the honors with a 6-1, 6-4 win versus Clare Raley at No. 6 singles to remain perfect this spring with an 8-0 record.

With the match in hand, Lechemia was up a set and tied 5-all in the second at one. Blevins lost the first set to Brittany Lashway 6-4, but she led 5-3 in the second and eventually forced the match into a super tiebreaker to decide the winner.

Lechemia went on to take a 6-5 lead and then closed out the match for a 6-3, 7-5 triumph over Hine. Blevins took control in the third set and pocketed her team-leading 20th victory of the season with a 4-6, 6-3, (10-5) final.

The Gamecocks wrap up their stretch of four straight SEC matches away from home with a contest at No. 44 Arkansas on Sunday at 1 p.m.

#36 South Carolina def. Missouri, 6-1

Singles
1. #74 Elixane Lechemia (SC) def. Kelli Hine (MU), 6-3, 7-5
2. Caroline Dailey (SC) def. Cassidy Spearman (MU), 6-2, 6-2
3. Bea Machado Santos (MU) def. Brigit Folland (SC), 6-0, 6-1
4. Hadley Berg (SC) def. Brianna Lashway (MU), 6-1, 6-2
5. Meghan Blevins (SC) def. Brittany Lashway (MU), 4-6, 6-3, (10-5)
6. Ximena Siles Luna (SC) def. Clare Raley (MU), 6-1, 6-4

Order of Finish: 3, 4, 2, 6, 1, 5

Doubles
1. #53 Berg/Dailey (SC) def. Spearman/Brittany Lashway (MU), 8-5
2. Brianna Lashway/Alex Clark (MU) def. #45 Blevins/Folland (SC), 8-4
3. Megen Cochran/Lechemia (SC) def. Madison Rhyner/Hine (MU), 8-4

Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1