No. 13 South Carolina Opens SEC Play With 4-2 Win At MSU
March 1, 2018
No. 13 South Carolina at Mississippi State
STARKVILLE, Miss. — No. 13 South Carolina women’s tennis (9-3) opened SEC play with a 4-2 win at Mississippi State on Thursday, extending the team’s winning streak to four matches and marking its second road win of the season.
The Gamecocks captured the doubles point behind two victories from Paige Cline and Hadley Berg on Court 1 and Mia Horvit and Ingrid Gamarra Martins on Court 2. In singles, Rachel Rohrabacher improved to 5-0 on the year with a 6-1, 6-1, win over Caroline Kelly at the No. 6 spot. Similar to Rohrabacher, Berg rolled to a 6-1, 6-1 win over Mississippi State’s Janina Braun at No. 1, where she improved to 3-0 on the year. The Bulldogs took two singles wins in straight sets over Megan Davies and Paige Cline, but Ingrid Gamarra Martins came up big for the Gamecocks with a comeback win over Madison Harrison on Court 2.
With Thursday’s win, the Gamecocks extended their winning streak over the Bulldogs to three matches, and now hold a 29-2 all-time series lead. South Carolina also snapped the Bulldogs’ six-match winning streak and handed them their first home loss of the season.
DOUBLES
For the fourth straight match, the Gamecocks captured the doubles point. Mia Horvit and Ingrid Gamarra Martins, who were paired for just the third time this season, earned a perfect 6-0 victory over MSU’s Magda Adaloglou and Janina Braun. The duo recorded its second straight win and improved to 2-1 in 2018.
After Horvit’s and Gamarra Martin’s win, All-Americans Hadley Berg and Paige Cline secured the doubles point over Madison Harrison and Khrystyna Vozniak on Court 1. The South Carolina tandem jumped out to a 3-1 lead and dropped just one additional game, before winning the set, 6-2. Cline and Berg are 4-2 when paired together in 2018, with their only losses coming against No. 9 Duke and No. 13 UCLA at ITA Indoors.
DOUBLES
1. Hadley Berg / Paige Cline (USC) def. Madison Harrison/Khrystyna Vozniak (MSU) 6-2
2. Mia Horvit / Ingrid Martins (USC) def. Magda Adaloglou/Janina Braun (MSU) 6-0
3. Sara Lizariturry/Anastasia Rentouli (MSU) vs. Megan Davies / Rachel Rohrabacher (USC) 4-4 (DNF)
Order of finish
2, 1
SINGLES
Rachel Rohrabacher kept her perfect singles record in tact by cruising to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Caroline Kelly on Court 6. Taking less than an hour to finish her match, Rohrabacher improved to 5-0 in dual match play and holds a seven-match winning streak dating back to the fall, with all seven of those wins being in straight sets.
No. 45 Hadley Berg kept the momentum in South Carolina’s favor with a dominant 6-1, 6-1 victory over Janina Braun on Court 1. After a tough weekend at ITA Indoors from Feb. 9-11, Berg has bounced back in singles with two straights win against players from Coastal Carolina and Mississippi State.
Down 3-0, the Bulldogs fought back and took two singles wins on Courts 4 and 5. Sara Lizariturry defeated Megan Davies in hard-fought straight sets, while Paige Cline dropped her match in straight sets to Anastasia Rentouli.
No. 124 Ingrid Gamarra Martins proved to be the difference-maker, forging a huge comeback win against Madison Harrison. The junior found herself in a hole after losing the first set, but came back strong in the second and third sets with 6-1, 6-2 victories, respectively. It was the first comeback win of the season for Martins, who had won her six previous dual matches in straight sets.
SINGLES
1. No. 45 Hadley Berg (USC) def. Janina Braun (MSU) 6-1, 6-1
2. No. 124 Ingrid Gamarra Martins (USC) def. Madison Harrison (MSU) 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
3. No. 112 Magda Adaloglou (MSU) vs. Mia Horvit (USC) 4-6, 7-5, 0-1 (DNF)
4. Anastasia Rentouli (MSU) def. Paige Cline (USC) 6-2, 6-3
5. Sara Lizariturry (MSU) def. Megan Davies (USC) 7-5, 6-3
6. Rachel Rohrabacher (USC) def. Caroline Kelly (MSU) 6-1, 6-1
Order of finish
6, 1, 5, 4, 2
QUOTABLE
GAMECOCK NOTABLES
- Rachel Rohrabacher extended her winning streak to seven matches with a 6-1, 6-1 win over MSU’s Caroline Kelly. The junior, who was used primarily as a doubles specialist in her first two seasons at South Carolina, is 5-0 at No. 6 singles in 2018 dual match play. Rohrabacher is 9-1 over her last 10 singles matches in 2017-18.
- No. 124 Ingrid Gamarra Martins‘ comeback victory improved the junior to 7-1 in dual match play. She owns a four-match winning streak dating back to Feb. 9, 2018 against No. 64-ranked Petra Granic of Texas. Until Thursday’s match, all of her 2018 wins had been in straight sets. Thursday’s win was also the first at No. 2 singles for Gamarra Martins, who was 6-1 at No. 3 in 2018 prior to the match.
- Berg’s 17-3 singles record this season has her at 91-30 overall, nine shy of 100 on her career, with a winning percentage of .752 that ranks seventh in school history. Berg is tied with Sophie Ljucovic for eighth on the career list for singles wins with 91. She is looking to become just the fourth player in school history with 100 wins.
- With her win Thursday, Berg is 3-0 at No. 1 singles in 2018. She is 8-2 over her last 10 matches.
- After a 3-0 weekend at home and Thursday’s win, head coach Kevin Epley is now seven match wins away from reaching 100 at South Carolina and is six wins from 250 overall on his career.
UP NEXT FOR THE GAMECOCKS
The Gamecocks will continue SEC play at No. 7 Ole Miss on Saturday. South Carolina is 20-15 all-time against the Rebels, including its most recent 4-2 win against them at the Carolina Tennis Center on April 9, 2017. The Gamecocks hold a five-match winning streak over the Rebels dating back to April 4, 2014.
For updates, continue to check back with GamecocksOnline.com or follow the team on social media (@GamecockWTennis).
