Depth Leads No. 12 South Carolina Past Arkansas

March 5, 2016

Pos.	Matchup	Score
1.	Ana Oparenovic (ARK) d. #71 Caroline Dailey (USC)	6-1, 6-1
2.	#118 Ingrid Gamarra Martins (USC) d. Shannon Hudson (ARK)	6-4, 6-3
3.	Yuliya Lysa (ARK) d. 108 Paige Cline (USC)	6-3, 7-5
4.	Hadley Berg (USC) d. Makenzie Craft (ARK)	6-4, 6-1
5.	Brigit Folland (USC) vs. Agne Cepelyte (ARK)	6-1, 6-0
6.	Ximena Siles Luna (USC) vs. Mia Jurasic (ARK)	7-5, 3-6, 1-0 (7)

Pos.	Matchup	Score
1.	Berg/Cline (USC) d. Craft/Araujo (ARK)	7-5
2.	Folland/Dailey (USC) d.#45 Lysa/Hudson (ARK)	6-4
3.	Jurasic/Oparenovic (ARK) d. Martins/Siles Luna (USC)	6-2

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The middle of the lineup once again came up big for No. 12 South Carolina women’s tennis, powering the Gamecocks to a 5-2 win over Arkansas on Saturday at the Carolina Tennis Center. The Gamecocks took the doubles point and earned straight-set wins at No. 3, 4 and 5 on the way to their 11th win of the season and 2-0 start to league play.

The Gamecocks pulled out a tightly contested doubles session, rallying from down a match with wins at No. 1 and No. 2. Juniors Brigit Folland and Caroline Dailey moved to 2-0 in league play and evened doubles at 1-1 with a 6-4 win at No. 2. South Carolina’s No. 1 duo of sophomore Hadley Berg and freshman Paige Cline clinched doubles as Cline dropped a shot behind the Razorbacks on the backline to get the 7-5 victory at No. 1.

In singles, Folland was first off the court with an impressive 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 5 to give the Gamecocks a 2-0 lead. The victory moves her to 9-1 this spring and 2-0 in league play. The Razorbacks responded, however, as Slovenian Ana Oparenovic defeated Dailey, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 1.

Berg delivered another big-time performance for South Carolina, pushing the lead to 3-1 with a strong 6-4, 6-1 win at No. 4. The Greenbrae, Calif., native remains unblemished in singles this spring with a perfect 10-0 mark, the best start to dual match play for a Gamecock since 1999. Arkansas, again, refused to go away as senior Yuliya Lysa topped Cline at No. 3, 6-3, 7-5.

With the Gamecocks in front, 3-2, Martins came through in the clutch, winning several big points to go on to the 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 2 and clinch the win for the Garnet and Black. Siles Luna closed things out with with a grueling win at No. 6, 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 (7).

Quotable

Head Coach Kevin Epley

“We knew Arkansas was going to be a tough, gritty team. They’re much improved from a year ago and have a great coaching staff. We were fortunate today that when the big points came around in about three or four of our matches, we stepped up and won those points, and that was the difference in the match. I’m really proud of the character the girls are showing. We’re learning how to step up and take care of business in those situations.”

Notables

South Carolina starts 2-0 in league play for the first time since 2010.
The Gamecocks improve to 7-1 against ranked opponents this spring.
South Carolina won the doubles point for the 10th time in 12 matches this spring.
Doubles teammates Paige Cline and Hadley Berg remain undefeated, moving to 6-0 this spring from the No. 1 spot.
With her win at No. 4, sophomore Hadley Berg improves to 10-0 this spring, the best start by a Gamecock in dual-match play since Celine Regnier started 12-0 in 1999.
The trio of Berg, Folland and Martins are a combined 28-3 in singles this spring.

Up Next

Carolina continues its SEC home slate next week with a pair of matches. The Gamecocks battle Vanderbilt on Thurs., Mar. 10, at 5 p.m., and square off with Kentucky on Sat., Mar. 12, at 1 p.m. Following the match against the Wildcats, the Gamecocks will take on South Carolina State in a non-conference matchup.