Women's Tennis . February 28, 2018

No. 13 Gamecocks Open SEC Play At MSU, No. 7 Ole Miss

Feb. 28, 2018

No. 13 South Carolina at Mississippi State and No. 7 Ole Miss

STARKVILLE, Miss. — No. 13 South Carolina women’s tennis (8-3) will open 2018 conference play with two road matches at Mississippi State and No. 7 Ole Miss on Thursday and Saturday.

The Gamecocks are coming off a successful weekend of non-conference play at the Carolina Tennis Center, sweeping North Florida, Charleston Southern and Coastal Carolina, 4-0.

South Carolina holds the advantage in both all-time series, leading Mississippi State, 28-2, and Ole Miss, 20-15. The Gamecocks own a two-match winning streak over the Bulldogs dating back to March 18, 2016, and a five-match winning streak over the Rebels dating back to April 4, 2014.

The last time the Gamecocks faced Mississippi State was on April 7, 2017, when they won, 4-1, at home. The tandems of Paige Cline and Brigit Folland and Hadley Berg and Rachel Rohrabacher captured the doubles point, while Berg, Mia Horvit and Brigit Folland garnered singles victories in straight sets.

Similarly, the last time the Gamecocks faced Ole Miss, they earned a 4-2 win at the Carolina Tennis Center on April 9, 2017. In that match, Cline and Folland defeated Natalie Suk and Brooke Stevens, while Berg and Rohrabacher defeated Zalina Khairudinova and Tea Jandric. In singles, Berg defeated Alexa Bortles, 6-0, 6-2, Silvia Chinellato defeated Tereza Janatova, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 and Folland defeated Allie Sanford, 6-2, 6-2.

QUOTABLE

“It’s a great opportunity going into Mississippi to kick off the SEC season. We always have great fights with these teams and we are looking forward to embracing the challenge. We ended last weekend very strong and hopefully we can build off that momentum over the next couple of days.” — Head Coach Kevin Epley

GAMECOCK NOTABLES

After reaching a season-high No. 11 ranking in the nation last week, the Gamecocks are ranked at No.13 by the ITA, it was announced Feb. 27.
The Gamecocks are ranked at No. 14 by the USTA, it was announced Feb. 28. The team received 108 votes and is one of seven SEC teams ranked in the Top 25.
South Carolina has utilized 11 doubles pairs in 2018. Junior Rachel Rohrabacher and freshman Megan Davies lead the team at 5-0 in 2018 and are 4-0 in dual match play.
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 Feb. 1. She is the first and sole Gamecock to earn weekly honors from the SEC so far this season.
Ranked in singles: Hadley Berg (45), Ingrid Gamarra Martins (124
Ranked in doubles: Megan Davies and Silvia Chinellato (40)
At 16-3 in singles this season, Berg is tied with Gira Schofield for ninth on the career list for singles wins with 90. She is looking to become just the fourth player in school history with 100 wins.
Berg’s 16-3 singles record this season has her at 90-30 overall for her career, with a winning percentage of .750 that ranks seventh in school history.
While all three of her singles matches went unfinished this past weekend, Rohrabacher is 4-0 at No. 6 singles and owns a six-match winning streak. She is 9-1 over her last 10 matches this season.
Davies and Gamarra Martins both own three-match winning streaks and are 8-2 over their last 10 matches. The freshman Davies leads the Gamecocks with six dual match singles victories and a 21-5 overall record in 2017-18.
Epley is eight match wins away from reaching 100 at South Carolina and is seven wins from 250 overall on his career.
The Gamecocks advanced to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 last season for the first time since 2009, marking their 23rd consecutive postseason appearance.
South Carolina sent two singles players, Mia Horvit and Ingrid Gamarra Martins, to the Round of 32 of the NCAA Singles Championship for the first time since 1983 when Laura Bernstein and Ellen Oxreider both moved on. Horvit went on to reach the round of 16, making her the first singles All-American for South Carolina since Bernstein in 1983.

SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI STATE

The Bulldogs are 8-2 this season and hold a six-match winning streak with wins over Samford, UAB, Southeastern Louisiana, Southern University, Georgia State and Memphis. The team is 6-0 at home.
Magda Adaloglou and Madison Harrison are both rolling in singles play, holding five-match winning streaks in the top half of the lineup.
The Bulldogs have utilized the same three doubles tandems all season in Madison Harrison and Khrystyna Vozniak, Magda Adaloglou and Janina Braun and Sara Lizariturry and Anastasia Rentouli. The duos are 5-1, 7-1, and 6-2, respectively.
Mississippi State is 0-1 against nationally-ranked teams, falling to No. 12 Texas on Jan. 26. The Gamecocks defeated No. 11 Texas at ITA Indoors, 4-2.
Last season, the Bulldogs advanced to the SEC Championship quarterfinals, but were defeated by No. 1 Florida, 4-2.
In 2017, senior Jasmine Lee was the sole representative for the Bulldogs in the NCAA Singles Championship. She dropped her opening-round match to Southern Cal’s No. 33 Jessica Failla. In the 2017 NCAA Doubles Championship, the Bulldogs sent the tandem of Lee and freshman Lisa Marie Rioux, who lost their opening round match to Kansas’ 37th-ranked Tess Bernard-Feigenbaum and Nina Khmelnitckaia.
Mississippi State was bounced from the first round of the 2017 NCAA Team Championship by Northwestern, 4-1.
Ranked in singles: Magda Adaloglou (112)
Head coach Daryl Greenan is 85-102 in eight seasons leading the Bulldogs.

SCOUTING NO. 7 OLE MISS

The Rebels are 9-1 this season, including a 3-0 home record and 3-0 road record. Their only loss came against North Carolina in the third round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Madison, Wis.
Ole Miss is 4-1 against ranked opponents, including a 4-3 win over No. 24 TCU on Jan. 26, a 4-1 win over No. 15 Oklahoma State on Jan. 27, a 2-4 loss against No. 3 North Carolina on Feb. 9, a 4-3 win over No. 13 UCLA on Feb. 10 and a 4-2 win over No. 11 Texas on Feb. 11.
After its sole loss of the season against UNC, Ole Miss bounced back with a five-match winning streak.
Ranked in singles: Arianne Hartono (16), Tea Jandric (58), Sabina Machalova (115)
Ranked in doubles: Arianne Hartono and Alexa Bortles (10), Sabina Machalova and Natalie Suk (45)
Hartono, Vrbenska and Janatova are all undefeated in 2018 singles play. Hartono leads the charge with a perfect 7-0 record, while Janatova is 6-0 and Vrbenska is 3-0.
Hartono earned ITA All-American honors last season by advancing to the Round of 16 of the NCAA Singles Championship.
The Gamecocks faced players from Ole Miss at the FGCU Spring Invite, winning four of six singles matches on Jan. 13. Then No. 43 Berg defeated the then No. 50 Hartono, 6-3, 6-4. Gamarra Martins defeated No. 81-ranked Suk, 4-6, 6-3, 10-8. Horvit defeated No. 62 Machalova, 6-4, 2-6, 10-6. Davies defeated Allie Sanford in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3. Nikolina Jovic defeated Janatova, 6-4, 6-1.
The Rebels have utilized seven doubles combinations this season. The No. 10-ranked tandem of Bortles and Hartono has been most productive at 6-2 in dual match play.
Last season, Ole Miss advanced to the second round of the SEC Championship, but was defeated by Kentucky, 4-3. In the 2017 NCAA Team Tournament, the Rebels were bounced from the second round by North Carolina.
UP NEXT FOR THE GAMECOCKS

The Gamecocks will host their first SEC opponents at the Carolina Tennis Center this season in Texas A&M at 5:30 p.m. on March 9 and LSU at 1 p.m. on March 11. South Carolina is 8-5 all-time against Texas A&M, including a 4-2 road win in March last season. Against LSU, South Carolina holds a 22-6 all-time lead, losing the last matchup in Baton Rouge, 2-4.

For updates, continue to check back with GamecocksOnline.com or follow the team on social media (@GamecockWTennis).