KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — No. 11 South Carolina women’s tennis powered past Tennessee, 7-0, on Friday for its ninth SEC win of the season, matching the program record for most SEC victories in a season, set in 1996. Carolina took control early with a 2-0 sweep in doubles, and freshmen Paige Cline and Ingrid Gamarra Martins extended the lead to 3-0 before junior Caroline Dailey clinched the match.
With the win, South Carolina improves to 17-5, 9-3 in the SEC and remains in the hunt for its first top-four SEC finish since 2007. Tennessee falls to 1-11 in conference play and 8-15 overall. The Gamecocks would finish No. 4 in the SEC with a win against No. 3 Georgia on Sunday or a pair of Auburn losses. The Tigers are at No. 6 Vanderbilt tonight and No. 20 Kentucky on Sunday. The top four seeds receive a bye into the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament.
In doubles play, Dailey and junior Brigit Folland took care of business with a 6-2 win at No. 2, scoring their sixth win in seven matches and improving to 7-4 in SEC competition. The Gamecocks clinched the doubles point as No. 25 Hadley Berg and Cline held on for a 6-4 win at No. 1 against No. 68 Sadie Hammond and Evie Repic. The duo improved to 11-3, 7-3 in SEC play making them just the third Gamecock doubles tandem to win seven SEC matches since 2007.
After helping clinch doubles, Cline carried the energy into singles where she captured a quick 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 3, becoming the fourth Gamecock to reach double-digit wins in dual-match play this season and giving the Gamecocks a 2-0 lead. Martins followed with a decisive 6-2, 6-2 victory at No. 2, temporarily surpassing Berg for the team lead in singles wins with 23. Dailey then sealed the win for South Carolina her third ranked win of the season, a 6-4, 6-2 triumph of No. 63 Sadie Hammond at the top of the lineup.
Play continued with Folland scoring a 7-6 (2), 6-1 win at No. 5. The victory was Folland’s eighth SEC singles win this spring and seventh from the No. 5 position, matching Tobi Rakic’s school record set in 1996 for the most regular-season SEC wins at No. 5 singles. Berg went on to win her team-leading fourth three-set match of the spring, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 at No. 4 to once again match Martins for the team lead in singles wins. Siles Luna made it a sweep with a 10-7 third-set super tiebreak win at No. 6.
Quotable
Head Coach Kevin Epley
“Most of our matches this year have been very close, so it was nice to get all the singles victories. Tennessee is always a feisty, tough team so we really needed to come out prepared to take care of business. I’m really proud of our team for taking care of their courts.”
Match Changer
The Gamecocks took the doubles point and quickly extended the lead to 3-0 as freshmen Paige Cline and Ingrid Gamarra Martins earned quick wins at No. 2 and No. 3, respectfully.
Notables
- Twenty-two matches marks the fastest South Carolina has reached 17 wins since 1995.
- South Carolina’s 17 wins matches its most under head coach Kevin Epley.
- Sophomore Hadley Berg remains in the team lead in dual-match singles wins (16) and SEC singles wins (8).
- Freshman Paige Cline has won three straight singles matches and six of her last eight.
- Freshman Ingrid Gamarra Martins continues to lead the team with 44 combined wins in 2015-16.
- Senior Ximena Siles Luna has now won five of her last six matches.
- With an 8-3 SEC record at No. 1 doubles, Berg and Cline have matched South Carolina’s single-season SEC wins record at No. 1 doubles and are one win shy of the school’s single-season SEC doubles wins record.
Up Next
With a top-four SEC finish on the line, Carolina closes its regular season at No. 3 Georgia on Sunday. The match is set to begin at 1 p.m.
