Feb. 20, 2016
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Junior Caroline Dailey notched her biggest career win to even the match, and senior Ximena Siles Luna delivered the victory in a dramatic 7-5 third set as No. 37 South Carolina rallied to top No. 21 Clemson, 4-3, Saturday at the Carolina Tennis Center. The Gamecocks, who at one time trailed 3-1, scored their second top-25 win this season and first triumph over Clemson since 2012.
“It’s huge to beat Clemson,” head coach Kevin Epley said. “That’s the first time we’ve beaten them since I’ve been here. They’re a tough, well-coached team. They came after us in doubles. I think we were surprised by their strength in doubles, but we hunkered down and managed to get it done. It’s a great win for us.
The two in-state rivals brought the intensity right from the start. The Gamecock doubles tandem of sophomore Hadley Berg and freshman Paige Cline earned an impressive 6-3 win at No. 1, but the Tigers took advantage of some key swing points to earn 6-4 wins at two and three and take the early 1-0 lead.
The Tigers were able to extend their lead to 2-0 with a win by No. 75 Fernanda Navarro over No. 110 Ingrid Gamarra Martins at No. 3. However, junior Brigit Folland, one of three upperclassmen on the roster, put together an impressive performance on her way to a 6-3, 6-0 win that got the Gamecocks on the board.
In a battle of highly-skilled freshmen at court one, Clemson’s Ayan Broomfield got the better of No. 50 Cline, taking a hard-fought 6-4, 6-3 win. Moments later, Berg closed out a 7-5, 6-4 win over senior Tristen Dewar to shift the momentum back to the Garnet and Black. The win continued Berg’s blistering start to the season as she improved to 7-0 this spring.
Trailing 3-2, South Carolina had its two most experienced players still battling. Siles Luna won her first set, 6-4, but dropped her second set, 6-2, while Dailey won her first set against No. 11 Joana Eidukonyte after an intense 8-6 tiebreak, but trailed in her second set, 4-2. Dailey soon found her stride and reeled off four straight games to close out her match and level the overall score at 3-3.
With the crowd behind her, Siles Luna jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second set. But, Tiger freshman Ally Miller-Krasilnikov refused to back down, holding off the Carolina celebration and tying the third set at 5-5. Siles Luna, however, stepped up and delivered a clutch forehand that clinched the win for the Gamecocks.
“Everyone was saying if there was a last match on, Ximena is the one we want out there,” Epley said. “There’s just this feeling inside when she’s out there that she’s going to get it done, because we’ve seen her in that situation so many times. She just managed to step up. She always does. She always wins in those moments.”
Quoting Coach Kevin Epley
On how the win impacts their season:
“It’ll give us confidence more than anything. We have the mentality where we will just work hard day-in and day-out, and let the results take care of themselves. We have some work to do, and we’ll get right back at it. Keep on focusing. Keep on pushing. Hopefully it’ll give us some confidence because we are heading into SEC season and all of the matches are going to be really tough.”
On the team’s focus:
“The thing we’ve been talking about this week is finishing – staying committed to our game and finishing all the way through. It was incredible to see Caroline (Dailey) finally able to finish. She’s had a lot of trouble this spring. She’s been winning first sets and getting leads, and she stayed on track today. She got down in the second, but really stayed committed to what she was doing and stayed focused. The same thing with Ximena (Siles Luna). She had some tough goes. She blew a lead, but she stayed in the present and was able to pull it out.”
Notables
- The University of South Carolina now leads the Palmetto Series, 7-5, with four points still up for grabs.
- Today’s win marks the first for Head Coach Kevin Epley over Clemson on the sidelines for South Carolina.
- Junior Caroline Dailey’s win over the nation’s 11th-ranked player was the program’s highest ranked singles win since Gira Schofield beat the nation’s sixth-ranked player in April 2009.
- With her win at No. 4, sophomore Hadley Berg moved to 7-0 this spring and 14-2 overall this season.
Up Next
Carolina closes out the non-conference portion of its schedule with a road match at Wake Forest. The Gamecocks and Demon Deacons are set to battle on Sun., Feb. 28, in Winston-Salem, N.C., at 2 p.m.
