Women's Tennis . February 10, 2018

No. 19 South Carolina knocks off No. 11 Texas at ITA Indoors

Feb. 10, 2018

ITA National Indoors: No. 19 South Carolina vs. No. 11 Texas

MADISON, Wis. — After a sweeping loss in the opening match of ITA Indoors on Friday, No. 19 South Carolina women’s tennis (5-2) bounced back with a 4-2 win over No. 11 Texas on Saturday at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.

The Gamecocks captured the doubles point with two straight match victories, and Silvia Chinellato, Megan Davies and Ingrid Gamarra Martins won their singles matches at the No. 4, 5 and 3 spots, respectively.

The win marked the first at ITA Indoors in program history for the Gamecocks, who were 0-7 at the tournament entering Saturday’s match. It was also South Carolina’s first win against a ranked opponent this season.

DOUBLES

After losing the doubles point against No. 9 Duke, the Gamecocks bounced back against the Longhorns. Coming off a loss in doubles on Friday, the All-American doubles duo of Paige Cline and Hadley Berg cruised to a 6-2 win against Bojana Markovic and Petra Granic. The win improved Berg and Cline to 5-5 overall in fall and spring play this year. Shortly after Cline and Berg won their doubles match, Rachel Rohrabacher and Megan Davies captured the doubles point with a 6-4 win over Bianca Turati and Dani Wagland. With the win, the duo improved to 3-0 in 2018.

DOUBLES

1. Silvia Chinellato/Ingrid Gamarra Martins (SC) vs. Fernanda Labrana/Anna Turati (TX) 5-3 unfinished

2. Hadley Berg/Paige Cline (SC) def. Bojana Markovic/Petra Granic (TX) 6-4

3. Megan Davies/Rachel Rohrabacher (SC) def. Dani Wagland/Bianca Turati (TX) 6-4

Order of finish

2, 3

SINGLES

After losing their singles matches against Duke on Friday, Silvia Chinellato, Megan Davies and Ingrid Gamarra Martins all captured singles victories in straight sets for the Gamecocks on Saturday. Chinellato finished first on court four, defeating her first ranked opponent of the season in No. 115 Bojana Markovic, 6-2, 6-3. Davies, who was named SEC Freshman of the Week on Feb. 7, also won her match in straight sets, defeating Fernanda Labrana, 6-3, 6-2. Ingrid Gamarra Martins took down No. 64-ranked singles player Petra Granic, 6-4, 6-4. Gamarra Martins held a steady advantage over Granic in the first set, but trailed by one game in the second set. The junior rallied back to take a 5-3 advantage and ultimately went on to clinch the match for the Gamecocks.

SINGLES

1. #1 Bianca Turati (TX) def. #118 Mia Horvit (SC) 6-2, 6-4

2. #41 Anna Turati (TX) def. #38 Hadley Berg (SC) 6-4, 6-1

3. Ingrid Gamarra Martins (SC) def. #64 Petra Granic (TX) 6-4, 6-4

4. Silvia Chinellato (SC) def. #115 Bojana Markovic (TX) 6-2, 6-3

5. Megan Davies (SC) def. Fernanda Labrana (TX) 6-3, 6-2

6. Rachel Rohrabacher (SC) vs. Marta Perez-Mur (TX) 4-6, 6-1 unfinished

Order of finish

4, 5, 1, 2, 3

QUOTABLE

“We saw a lot of improvement in some spots today. We are trying to improve each match and some of our players stepped up to the plate today. We may have started a little slow in doubles, but we got our competitive spirit going in singles. Sunday we are looking to play a complete match from beginning to end as a team. We know we are capable of more and we are excited about the opportunity to get on the court again against another quality team.” — Head Coach Kevin Epley

GAMECOCK NOTABLES

South Carolina’s win on Saturday was its first against a ranked opponent this season. The only other ranked team the Gamecocks had faced was No. 9 Duke in the ITA Indoors opening match on Friday. The Gamecocks are ranked at No. 19 in the nation by the ITA, it was announced Jan. 31, and are ranked at No. 16 by the USTA, it was announced Feb. 7.
While her match went unfinished on Saturday, Rachel Rohrabacher has come on strong this spring in singles with a 3-0 record at No. 6. Rohrabacher was used as a doubles specialist her first two seasons at South Carolina and posted records of 2-2 and 2-0 in limited singles play in 2016 and 2017.
Similar to Rohrabacher, Ingrid Gamarra Martins holds a 4-1 record in singles this spring, and is 3-0 in doubles when paired with Silvia Chinellato in dual match play. The pair’s doubles match went unfinished against No. 11 Texas on Saturday.
Saturday’s match marked the first singles loss of 2018 for Berg in the top two lineup spots. Berg primarily played in the No. 4-6 spots in her first three seasons at South Carolina. With the loss, the senior is now 1-0 at the No. 1 spot and is 2-1 in the No. 2 spot.
Berg’s No. 38 national ranking in singles, which was announced by the ITA on Feb. 7, is a career high for the senior.
No. 38 Berg and Megan Davies hold the team’s best individual singles records at 15-2 and 19-5, respectively.
Berg’s 15-2 singles record this season has her at 89-29 overall for her career, with a winning percentage of .761 that ranks sixth in school history.
Davies earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors on Feb. 7, following a perfect 6-0, 6-0 singles victory over Clemson’s Constanza Gorches at the Carolina Tennis Center on Thursday. The freshman is the first Gamecock to earn weekly honors from the SEC this season.
Ranked in singles: Hadley Berg (38), Mia Horvit (118)
Ranked in doubles: Megan Davies and Silvia Chinellato (44)
Epley is 11 match wins away from reaching 100 at South Carolina and is 10 wins from 250 overall on his career.

UP NEXT FOR THE GAMECOCKS

With a loss in the first round and a win in the second round of ITA Indoors, the Gamecocks will face No. 13 UCLA in the final match of the event on Sunday. Texas Tech defeated the Bruins, 4-2, on Friday, and Ole Miss defeated them, 4-3, on Saturday.

Following the conclusion of ITA Indoors, the Gamecocks will host North Florida and Charleston Southern in a dual match doubleheader on Feb. 24, beginning at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.

SCOUTING NO. 13 UCLA

The Bruins are 4-2 this season, including two straight losses to Texas Tech and Ole Miss at ITA Indoors. Prior to those losses, UCLA recorded a four-match win streak against UC Santa Barbara, NC State, Northwestern and Saint Mary’s.
UCLA’s roster is composed of two freshmen, two sophomores, three juniors and three seniors.
South Carolina is 0-2 and has never registered a point in the all-time series with UCLA, including an 0-6 loss in 1990 and an 0-7 loss in 1996.
Ranked in singles: Ena Shibahara (12), Abi Altick (31), Jada Hart (57) Terri Fleming (74), Alaina Miller (93), Ayan Broomfield (94)
Ranked in doubles: Ena Shibahara and Jada Hart (4), Gabby Andrews and Jada Hart (25)
The Bruins’ highest-ranked singles player Ena Shibahara advanced to the Round of 16 in last season’s NCAA Singles Championship, giving her All-American status.
In last season’s NCAA Doubles Championship, Paige Cline and Hadley Berg defeated Jada Hart and Ena Shibahara, who are currently the No. 25-ranked doubles tandem in the nation, in the first round, 6-3 , 5-2 , ret.
Head coach Stella Sampras Webster is in her 23rd season with the Bruins. She led the Bruins to the 2014 NCAA Tournament title.
Last season, UCLA went 14-9 overall and 7-3 in Pac 12 play. The Bruins advanced to the second round of the NCAA Team Tournament, but were eliminated by Pepperdine.