March 14, 2014

ATHENS, Ga. — The No. 54 South Carolina women’s tennis team suffered a 4-0 loss to No. 12 Georgia on Friday in Athens, Ga., to fall to 10-5 on the year and 1-3 in SEC play. The Bulldogs improved to 11-2 and remained undefeated in the league at 4-0.

South Carolina dropped a close doubles point with a pair of 8-6 losses on courts two and three. Lilly Kimbell and Caroline Brinson upended Meghan Blevins and Caroline Dailey first at the No. 3 spot, and No. 36 Silvia Garcia and Kate Fuller defeated Brigit Folland and Katerina Popova to secure the point on court two.

At No. 1 doubles, the Gamecocks’ Elixane Lechemia and Dominika Kanakova were in search of another win against a top-20 opponent, as the duo defeated Florida’s then-20th-ranked tandem last weekend. Lechemia and Kanakova entered the rankings this week at No. 61 and held a 7-5 advantage on No. 3 Lauren Herring and Maho Kowase before play was suspended once the point had been decided.

The Bulldogs prevailed on courts three, five and six in singles play to snag the 4-0 triumph. Mia King won first at the No. 6 spot with a 6-0, 6-0 victory against Ximena Siles Luna, and 21st-ranked Kowase handed UGA its third point with a 6-0, 6-1 triumph versus No. 112 Blevins at the third spot. Fuller closed out the contest with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Dailey at five singles.

The remaining matches saw No. 10 Herring with a 6-2, 4-2 lead versus Lechemia at No. 1 singles and 15th-ranked Garcia led Popova 6-3, 3-0 at the second position. Folland, ranked 95th, nearly recorded a win against No. 45 Kimbell at four singles, as she held a 6-2, 5-1 advantage and was two points away from earning the win when play stopped.

The Gamecocks are back in action Sunday in Knoxville, Tenn., to face No. 49 Tennessee at 1 p.m. The Lady Vols are 4-8 and 0-4 in the SEC after losing to No. 3 Florida by a 7-0 count today.

Singles
1. Elixane Lechemia, USC, vs. #10 Lauren Herring, UGA, 2-6, 2-4 susp.
2. Katerina Popova, USC, vs. #15 Silvia Garcia, UGA, 3-6, 0-3 susp.
3. #21 Maho Kowase, UGA, def. #112 Meghan Blevins, USC, 6-0, 6-1
4. #95 Brigit Folland, USC, vs. #45 Lilly Kimbell, UGA, 6-2, 5-1 susp.
5. Kate Fuller, UGA, def. Caroline Dailey, USC, 6-1, 6-3
6. Mia King, UGA, def. Ximena Siles Luna, USC, 6-0, 6-0

Order of Finish: 6, 3, 5

Doubles
1. #61 Dominika Kanakova/Lechemia, USC, vs. #3 Herring/Kowase, UGA, 7-5 susp.
2. #36 Fuller/Garcia, UGA, def. Folland/Popova, USC, 8-6
3. Kimbell/Caroline Brinson, UGA, def. Blevins/Dailey, USC, 8-6

Order of Finish: 3, 2