Gamecocks Win Nine Of First 10 In Carolina ITA Regional
Oct. 19, 2017
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – South Carolina women’s tennis won nine of 10 matches the opening day of the Carolina ITA-Regional Tournament on Thursday at the University of North Carolina.
Two Gamecocks earned two separate singles victories to earn their way into the main draw of the tournament while Carolina secured five wins in the doubles main draw in the afternoon portion of the day.
“Getting those first match nerves out of the way was big for me and Nikolina (Jovic),” Rachel Rohrabacher said. “We’ve had a great start. Win or lose we all want to hold each other accountable for the standards we’ve set. It’s been really great to see everyone compete and have everyone behind us.”
The doubles main draw saw the Gamecocks win five of six matches on the day to open the tournament. Silvia Chinellato and Megan Davies kicked things off for the Gamecocks with a commanding 8-2 win over Clemson’s Constanza Gorches and Sydney Riley. The winning ways continued soon after as Nikolina Jovic and Ingrid Gamarra Martins advanced with an 8-2 victory against Sam Armas and Ava Todd of Davidson.
Carolina didn’t stop there. Following an opening round bye, Hadley Berg and Rachel Rohrabacher cruised to an 8-1 win against Corrine Blythe and Alice Taylor of UNCG. Paige Cline and Mia Horvit also took the opening round off with a bye before picking up an 8-5 victory against ECU’s Natsy Rettich and Ho Chiao Hsia.
Chinellato and Davies earned the final Carolina victory of the day in a hard-fought 8-6 win over Upstate’s Valeria Zarama and Carol Siqaki.
Competition started with the singles qualification bracket as Jovic and Rohrabacher were positioned to earn their way into the main draw. Jovic breezed to a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Eastern Carolina’s Annija Veinsteina before powering through Mary Caroline Meredith of Wake Forest in a 6-3, 7-5 win that sent her to the main draw.
Rohrabacher showed plenty of fight in her opening round, as the Gamecock found herself in a three-set match against Appalachian State’s Taylor Bygrave after the first two went 6-3, 2-6. Rohrabacher eventually took the match with a 6-4 third-set victory to move into the second round of qualifying.
Competing for the eighth singles qualifying spot in her second match, Rohrabacher sailed to a 7-5, 6-4 win against Campbell’s Ana Castillo to earn her spot in the main draw.
The Gamecocks return to action tomorrow for the second day of tournament action starting at 9 a.m. ET. Follow Carolina on social media (@GamecockWTN) for tournament updates throughout the weekend.
Doubles (Main Draw)
Silvia Chinellato/Megan Davies (SC) def. Constanza Gorches/Sydney Riley (CU) 8-2
Nikolina Jovic/Ingrid Martins (SC) def. Sam Armas/Ava Todd (UD) 8-2
Hadley Berg/Rachel Rohrabacher (SC) def. Corrine Blythe Alice Taylor (UNCG) 8-1
Paige Cline/Mia Horvit (SC) def. Natsy Rettich/Ho Chiao Hsia (ECU) 8-5
Silvia Chinellato/Megan Davies (SC) def. Valeria Zarama/Carol Siqaki (Upstate) 8-6
Meible Chi/Emma Lazic (DU) def. Nikolina Jovic/Ingrid Martins (SC) 8-3
Singles (Qualifying)
Nikolina Jovic (SC) def. Annija Veinsteina (ECU) 6-2, 6-3
Rachel Rohrabacher (SC) def. Taylor Bygrave (ASU) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
Nikolina Jovic (SC) def. Mary Caroline Meredith (WFU) 6-3, 7-5
Rachel Rohrabacher (SC) def. Ana Castillo (CU) 7-5, 6-4
