Oct. 10, 2014

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Four members of the South Carolina women’s tennis team opened play in the UVa Fall Invite on Friday in Charlottesville, Va., at the Snyder Tennis Center.

Teams played two rounds of doubles Friday morning and the Gamecocks advanced both squads to the semifinals of their respective brackets. Meghan Blevins and Brigit Folland defeated Larner/Rischbieth of Northwestern 8-5 in their first match of the Orange Flight before falling 7-5 in a tiebreaker to Elbaba/Morton of Virginia in the semis. Natalie Looney and Caroline Dailey took out Chatt/Rooney from Northwestern 8-5 and then suffered a tiebreaker loss as well to Pomyantinskaya/Turhan from Marshall in the semis of the Blue Flight. Both duos will compete for third place Saturday.

In singles, the Gamecocks picked up one victory courtesy of Blevins in the Blue Flight, as she defeated Marija Bogicevic of Marshall in three sets 4-6, 6-2, 7-6. Blevins moved on to the quarterfinals with her win and will face Arkansas’ Nastassia Rubel. Looney fought hard in her Blue Flight match against Marie Faure from Virginia but fell 7-6, 6-4 and will compete in the backdraw Saturday beginning at 9 a.m.

For the Orange Flight, Dailey took a 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 loss to No. 121 Shannon Hudson of Arkansas, while Skylar Morton upended No. 114 Folland by a 6-3, 6-3 count. Both will compete in the consolation draw beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

SINGLES
#121 Shannon Hudson (Arkansas) def. Caroline Dailey (South Carolina) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1
Skylar Morton (Virginia) def. #114 Brigit Folland (South Carolina) 6-3, 6-3
Marie Faure (Virginia) def. Natalie Looney (South Carolina) 7-6, 6-4
Meghan Blevins (South Carolina) def. Marija Bogicevic (Marshall) 4-6, 6-2, 7-6

DOUBLES
Blevins/Folland (South Carolina) def. Larner/Rischbieth (Northwestern) 8-5
Elbaba/Morton (Virginia) def. Blevins/Folland (South Carolina) 8-7 (7-5)
Dailey/Looney (South Carolina) def. Chatt/Rooney (Northwestern) 8-5
Pomyatinskaya/Turhan (Marshall) def. Dailey/Looney (South Carolina) 8-7