No. 28 South Carolina Knocks Off No. 7 Virginia

Jan. 29, 2016

Pos.	Matchup	Score
1.	(4) Danielle Collins (UVA) d. (43) Paige Cline (SC)	6-0, 6-1
2.	(8) Julie Elbaba (UVA) d. Caroline Dailey (SC)	4-6, 6-2, 6-2
3.	(30) Stephanie Nauta (UVA) d. Brigit Folland (SC)	6-1, 6-1
4.	(54) I. Gamarra Martins (SC) d. Erica Susi (UVA)	3-6, 6-0, 6-0
5.	Hadley Berg (SC) d. Taylor Wingo (UVA)	6-1, 6-3
6.	(SC) vs. (UVA)	W (Forfeit)

Pos.	Matchup	Score
1.	Berg/Cline (SC) d. Elbaba/Nauta (UVA)	6-2
2.	Martins/Dailey (SC) d. Collins/Susi (UVA)	susp.
3.	(SC) vs. (UVA)	W (Forfeit)

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — No. 28 South Carolina women’s tennis took advantage of some early momentum, and freshman Ingrid Gamarra Martins delivered down the stretch to help the Gamecocks take down No. 7 Virginia, 4-3, on Friday at the Boar’s Head Sports Club. The win was the Gamecocks’ first over a top-10 opponent since 2009 and gives head coach Kevin Epley 200 for his career.

Carolina got on the board first, earning the doubles point after a 6-2 triumph by freshman Paige Cline and sophomore Hadley Berg at court one. The tandem moved to 2-0 with their first win coming in October. The Gamecocks have taken the doubles point in each of their four contests this spring.

Virginia, however, clawed its way back into the match with stellar play at the top of the lineup. Trailing South Carolina 2-0, fourth-ranked Danielle Collins gave Gamecock freshman Paige Cline her first loss of the spring in straight sets to pull her team to within one. Thirtieth-ranked Stephanie Nauta soon followed suit at court three, closing out junior Brigit Folland to knot the score at 2-2.

Sophomore Hadley Berg stepped up to push the Gamecocks back in front, defeating Taylor Wingo, 6-1, 6-3, at court five. Berg improved to 3-0 this spring and 10-2 overall this season. With two matches still up for grabs, Martins overcame a first-set loss with a pair of dominant 6-0 sets to get her second-straight match-clinching win, 3-6, 6-0, 6-0.

Quoting Coach Kevin Epley

“We are very happy to get the victory, despite the fact that Virginia was a bit of a beleaguered team today. While I thought our doubles play was solid, we definitely feel like we can play much better in singles. We will get back to work tomorrow and prepare for a tough match Sunday against Marshall.”

Match Changer:

Freshman Ingrid Gamarra Martins put together two consecutive 6-0 sets at court four after dropping her opening set, to get her second-straight match-clinching victory.

Notables

This was South Carolina’s first win over a top-10 opponent since beating No. 10 Tennessee on May 10, 2009.
The win marks career-win number 200 for South Carolina Head Coach Kevin Epley.
The Gamecocks have beaten their first four opponents by a combined score of 24-4.
No. 54 Ingrid Gamarra Martins is now 4-0 this spring and 13-2 dating back to the fall.
Hadley Berg improved to 3-0 this spring and 10-2 overall this season.
No. 43 Paige Cline had her streak of six straight wins snapped after her defeat by No. 4 Danielle Collins.

Up Next

South Carolina looks to improve to 5-0 as it takes on No. 56 Marshall on the campus of the University of Virginia Sunday at 9 a.m.