March 26, 2016
COLUMBIA, S.C. — No. 8 South Carolina women’s tennis was dealt its first loss in SEC play this season, falling to No. 7 Florida, 4-1, Saturday at the USC Field House. The Gamecocks took a 1-0 lead after a dramatic doubles victory, but were unable to keep it going as the Gators’ highly-ranked singles unit claimed the first set on all but one court on its way to the win.
The loss moves Carolina (14-3, 6-1) into a tie for second in the SEC with No. 3 Georgia, who fell to Vanderbilt Saturday. Florida, meanwhile, sits on top of the SEC standings at 7-0.
The Gamecocks scored their first point against Florida since 2012 with a 2-1 win in doubles. Carolina’s No. 34-ranked doubles tandem of sophomore Hadley Berg and freshman Paige Cline took an impressive 6-1 win over the nation’s fifth-ranked tandem of sophomore Brooke Austin and junior Kourtney Keegan. After Florida earned a 6-2 victory at No. 3 doubles, Carolina took the deciding match as juniors Brigit Folland and Caroline Dailey stormed back from down 5-2 in the tiebreaker to win, 7-6 (6).
In singles, Berg suffered her first loss of the spring after posting 14 consecutive victories, dropping a 6-2, 6-3 decision to No. 43 Kourtney Keegan at No. 4. Meanwhile, Dailey put together a strong effort in her first set against No. 10 Brooke Austin at No. 1, but ultimately fell, 7-5, 6-1, giving the Gators the 2-1 lead.
Florida closed out the match as No. 9 Belinda Woolcock topped Carolina freshman Ingrid Gamarra Martins, 6-2, 6-4, at No. 2, before No. 82 Josie Kuhlman outlasted Folland, 6-2, 6-3, at No. 5.
Quotable
Head Coach Kevin Epley:
“When you get right down to it, the credit goes to Florida. They were just better in too many spots. We won the doubles point, but we have some work to do at our No. 3 spot moving forward. Florida was ready for our games in singles, and they did some things strategy-wise that took us out of our game. Credit to them and credit to their coaches. I felt like we fought hard, but we just got outplayed. Overall, there are a lot of positives today. We just need to keep doing what we have been doing all season and work on a couple of things at a few spots.”
Match Changer
After the Gamecocks took the doubles point, Florida took command in singles, winning the first set in all but one singles match.
Notables
- The No. 34-ranked doubles duo of Paige Cline and Hadley Berg moved to 9-1 this spring and 5-1 in the SEC.
- The win by Cline and Berg over the nation’s No. 5 doubles tandem was the Gamecocks’ highest-ranked doubles win since 2012.
- The loss snaps Carolina’s nine-match winning streak, it’s longest since 1999.
- This marks the first match of the season that Carolina came up empty in singles play.
- Sophomore Hadley Berg suffered her first loss after starting the season, 14-0, the best spring start for a Gamecock since 1995.
- Carolina was shut out at the No. 4 and 5 positions in the same match for the first time this season.
Up Next
Carolina continues its four-match home stand with No. 17 Texas A&M on Thurs., March 31, at 5 p.m. The Gamecocks’ final home matches of the season take place on Sat., April 2, with the Gamecocks hosting No. 15 LSU and the College of Charleston. First serve with the Tigers is set for Noon.
