No. 13 Gamecocks Fall to No. 17 Georgia Tech in NCAA Second Round

May 14, 2016

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Pos.	*Singles (2, 1, 3)**	Score
1.	#34 Johnnise Renaud (GT) d. #58 Caroline Dailey (SC)	6-1, 6-4
2.	Paige Hourigan (GT) d. #78 Ingrid Gamarra Martins (SC)	6-2, 6-1
3.	Rasheeda McAdoo (GT) d. #83 Paige Cline (SC)	6-2, 6-2
4.	Hadley Berg (SC) led Kendal Woodard (GT)	6-4, 4-1 (susp.)
5.	Alexis Prokopuik (GT) led Brigit Folland (SC)	6-3, 4-3 (susp.)
6.	Ximena Siles Luna (SC) led Natasha Prokhnevska (GT)	6-5 (susp.)

Pos.	*Doubles (1, 3, 2)**	Score
1.	#13 Woodard/Hourigan (GT) d. #29 Berg/Cline (SC)	6-3
2.	McAdoo/Renaud (GT) d. Dailey/Folland (SC)	6-4
3.	Martins/Rohrabacher (SC) d. Kurey/Prokhnevska (GT)	6-3

COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 13 South Carolina women’s tennis dropped a tough 4-0 decision to No. 17 Georgia Tech in the Second Round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament Saturday at Carolina Tennis Center. The Gamecocks (19-8, 9-4) finish the year with their most wins since 1995, while Georgia Tech improves to 19-8 overall and advances to the Round of 16 in Tulsa, Okla., and will face either Ohio State or UCLA on May 19.

The Yellow Jackets struck first in doubles as No. 13 Kendal Woodard and Paige Hourigan claimed a 6-3 win at No. 1. South Carolina’s No. 3 tandem of freshmen Ingrid Gamarra Martins and Rachel Rohrabacher would level the score with a 6-3 win, their fourth victory in five matches.

All eyes then turned to No. 2 doubles, where juniors Brigit Folland and Caroline Dailey broke serve to even the score at 4-4. Georgia Tech’s Rasheeda McAdoo and Johnise Renaud, however, followed with a break of their own thanks to a double fault from Dailey and the Yellow Jacket tandem went on to escape with a 6-4 win to claim the doubles point.

Already facing an uphill battle in singles, the Gamecocks dropped the first set on four courts before sophomore Hadley Berg looked to turn the momentum by erasing an 0-3 deficit en route to a 6-4 first-set victory at No. 4. Senior Ximena Siles Luna, playing her final home match, also fought to get the Gamecocks back in the match taking a 6-5 lead in her first set.

Georgia Tech, however, pulled away with wins in the top half of the lineup. No. 39 Paige Hourigan topped No. 78 Martins, 6-2, 6-1, at No. 2, before No. 34 Renaud hung on to beat No. 58 Dailey, 6-1, 6-4. McAdoo clinched the victory for Georgia Tech, 6-2, 6-2, over No. 83 Paige Cline.

Despite the loss, the Gamecocks have won at least one round in the NCAA Tournament 19 times in their 22 consecutive appearances. South Carolina’s streak of 22 straight bids is tied for the 11th-longest active streak in the country and their 26 overall appearances is 13th most in NCAA history.

The season is still not complete for a trio of Gamecocks. Dailey will compete in the 64-woman NCAA Singles Championships that begins May 25 in Tulsa, Okla., while doubles teammates Cline and Berg will compete in the 32-team Doubles Championships. Draws for the tournament will be announced the day before the event begins.

Quotables

Head Coach Kevin Epley

“It’s a disappointing way to end the season. Overall it has been a very good season. We have had 19 wins – that is the most since 1995. This is the second time in history we have had nine SEC wins. The girls accomplished a lot this year. We have had some amazing moments, a lot of 4-3 wins. Didn’t play as well later in the season and there were various reasons for that. We didn’t play as well today. We didn’t play very well last night and that is just how the last third of our season went. Overall, it was good. We wanted to end better but we are going to learn from it and come back next year and get back to the drawing board. Hats off to Georgia Tech. They were very athletic, came out ready to win and didn’t give up in doubles. It looked like number two doubles we were going to runaway with it for a moment, and then they stepped up. They had some very athletic singles players that had big games and they fought hard, so credit to them. Today the better team won.” for the rest of the team. Hadley (Berg) played pretty well, and it was very fitting. It’s the story of our season.

Match Changer

Georgia Tech’s No. 2 doubles team pulled out a tight 6-4 victory to claim the doubles point, giving the Yellow Jackets the momentum into singles play.

Notables

South Carolina has advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament 19 times during its current streak of 22 straight NCAA appearances.
South Carolina’s 19 wins this season marks its most since 1995.
South Carolina won nine SEC matches this season for just the second time in school history.
Sophomore Hadley Berg and junior Brigit Folland finish tied for the team lead in wins with 25 this season and 18 in dual-match play.
South Carolina’s doubles tandem of freshmen Rachel Rohrabacher and Ingrid Gamarra Martins closed the season with wins in four-straight matches at No. 3 and five of their last six overall.

Up Next

Junior Caroline Dailey will compete in the 64-woman NCAA Singles Championships that begins May 25 in Tulsa, Okla., while doubles teammates Paige Cline and Hadley Berg will compete in the 32-team Doubles Championships.