Gamecocks Split Sunday's Doubleheader
March 19, 2017
COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 21 South Carolina women’s tennis added a 1-1 record after Sunday’s doubleheader. The Gamecocks fell 4-0 to No. 6 Georgia in the morning session, but bounced back to take Coastal Carolina 4-0. With today’s results South Carolina improved to 11-5 overall and dropped to 2-3 in SEC play.
South Carolina dropped a close doubles point with a 6-3 and 7-5 loss on courts one and two. No. 58 Ellen Perez and Caroline Brinson upended No. 27 Paige Cline and Hadley Berg first at the No. 1 spot, and Elena Christofi and Kennedy Shaffer defeated Silvia Chinellato and Caroline Dailey to secure the point on court two.
The Bulldogs prevailed on courts one, two and three in singles play to snag the 4-0 triumph. Perez (55) won first at the No. 1 spot with a 6-1, 6-3 victory against Mia Horvit (58), and 18th-ranked Christofi handed UGA its third point with a 6-1, 6-3 triumph versus No. 35 Ingrid Gamarra Martins at the two spot. Shaffer (63) closed out the competition with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Cline at three singles.
In the afternoon session versus Coastal Carolina, the Gamecocks took the doubles point quickly with Chinellato and Dailey winning 6-2 against Romane Delay and Maria Khomchenko on court two. Berg and Cline clinched the point with a 6-3 triumph over Marie Babayan and Sara Bondar on court one to finish off doubles play.
Folland earned a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 5 over Delay to make the score 2-0. Chinellato advanced the Gamecocks’ lead to 3-0 with a 6-2, 6-1 triumph over Babayan. Just a few minutes later, Berg secured the win for South Carolina with a 6-2, 6-0 win against Bondar at No. 4 singles, to stay perfect in dual play this season and make a 4-0 final score.
Quotable
Head Coach Kevin Epley
“We were excited to play Georgia. I feel like we made some progress with doubles today and that’s a big thing for us. We’ve been struggling with doubles all year. We tried some new combinations and we were pretty happy with a lot of the things we saw. We came real close to winning the doubles point. I think that might have helped us going in to singles. They played very strong at one and two. They really showed why they took Florida down the other day. Credit to Georgia but on the courts we had ON we were in the match. If we would’ve gotten the doubles point, potentially, we could have been in this thing deeper than 4-0. Overall we have some things we can build on and we’re excited to go into next week, I think we’re going to be in a good place.”
RESULTS: Georgia
1. #51 Ellen Perez (UGA) def. #58 Mia Horvit (SC) 6-1, 6-3
2. #18 Elena Christofi (UGA) def. #35 Ingrid Gamarra Martins (SC) 6-1, 6-3
3. #63 Kennedy Shaffer (UGA) def. Paige Cline (SC) 6-2, 6-3
4. Silvia Chinellato (SC) vs. #86 Caroline Brinson (UGA) UNF
5. Hadley Berg (SC) vs. Marta Gonzalez (UGA) UNF
6. Brigit Folland (SC) vs. Mariana Gould (UGA) UNF
DOUBLES: (1, 2*)
1. Ellen Perez/Caroline Brinson (UGA) def. #27 Hadley Berg/Paige Cline (SC) 6-3
2. #58 Elena Christofi/Kennedy Shaffer (UGA) def. Silvia Chinellato/Caroline Dailey (SC) 7-5
3. Ingrid Gamarra Martins/Brigit Folland (SC) vs. Marta Gonzalez/Mariana Gould (UGA) UNF
RESULTS: Coastal Carolina
1. #58 Mia Horvit (SC) vs. Rylie Cox (CCU) UNF
2. Caroline Dailey (SC) vs. Natalie Wall (CCU) UNF
3. Silvia Chinellato (SC) def. Marie Babayan (CCU) 6-2, 6-1
4. Hadley Berg (SC) def. Sara Bondar (CCU) 6-2, 6-0
5. Brigit Folland (SC) def. Romane Delay (CCU) 6-1, 6-1
6. Rachel Rohrabacher (SC) vs. Maria Khomchenko (CCU) UNF
DOUBLES: (1, 2*)
1. #27 Hadley Berg/Paige Cline (SC) def. Marie Babayon/Sara Bondar (CCU) 6-3
2. Silvia Chinellato/Caroline Dailey (SC) def. Romane Delay/Marie Khomchenk (CCU) 6-2
3. Ingrid Gamarra Martins/Brigit Folland (SC) vs. Marta Gonzalez/Mariana Gould (UGA) UNF
Up Next
The Gamecocks hit the road for another weekend of SEC play, facing No. 42 Missouri Friday, March 24 and No. 15 Arkansas Saturday, March 26. For the latest information on South Carolina women’s tennis follow the Gamecocks on Twitter and Instagram, @gamecockwtennis or check in at GamecocksOnline.com.
