Women's Tennis . March 3, 2018

No. 13 Gamecocks Sweep No. 7 Rebels On Road

March 3, 2018

No. 13 South Carolina at No. 7 Ole Miss

OXFORD, Miss. — No. 13 South Carolina women’s tennis (10-3, 2-0 SEC) took down its highest ranked opponent of the season Saturday, defeating No. 7 Ole Miss in a 4-0 sweep at Palmer / Salloum Tennis Center.

The Gamecocks captured the doubles point in two straight sets, while No. 45 Hadley Berg, Paige Cline and Megan Davies earned singles victories in straight sets.

With the win, the Gamecocks extended their winning streak to five matches and wrapped their Mississippi road trip at 2-0. They are 21-15 all-time against the Rebels and now hold a six-match winning streak over them with Saturday’s sweep.

DOUBLES

For the fifth straight match, the Gamecocks captured the doubles point. Mia Horvit and Ingrid Gamarra Martins were the first off the court for the second straight match, defeating Natalie Suk and Anna Vrbenska, 6-1. The South Carolina duo has won three straight doubles matches when paired together and is 3-1 in 2018. After losing the first two games, Rachel Rohrabacher and Megan Davies mounted a huge comeback against Sabina Machalova and Allie Sanford on Court 3. The pair evened the match at 2-2, before taking a 3-2 lead and surging to a 6-4 victory from there. With the win, Rohrabacher and Davies remain perfect when paired together in 2018 at 6-0.

DOUBLES

1. #10 Arianne Hartono/Alexa Bortles (OM) vs. Paige Cline / Hadley Berg (SC) 5-5, unfinished

2. Ingrid Gamarra Martins / Mia Horvit (SC) def. Natalie Suk/Anna Vrbenska (OM) 6-1

3. Megan Davies / Rachel Rohrabacher (SC) def. Sabina Machalova/Allie Sanford (OM) 6-4

Order of finish

2, 3

SINGLES

No. 45 Hadley Berg was the first to finish her singles match, earning a huge win over No. 16 Arianne Hartono, 6-0, 6-2, on Court 1. The match marked the first loss of the season for Hartono, who was 8-0 entering Saturday. The win was the first of Berg’s career over a Top 25 opponent.

Next off the court was Paige Cline, who defeated Alexa Bortles, 6-1, 6-0. Cline, who had lost in Thursday’s match against Mississippi State, improved to 3-1 in 2018 with the win. Similar to Cline, after falling in her singles match against Mississippi State, Megan Davies clinched the sweep for the Gamecocks with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Anna Vrbenska on Court 5. The win improved Davies to 7-3 in dual match play with a team-high 22 wins in 2017-18. It also marked the first loss of the season for Vrbenska, who was 7-0 in 2018 prior to play.

SINGLES

1. #45 Hadley Berg (SC) def. #16 Arianne Hartono (OM) 6-0, 6-2

2. #115 Sabina Machalova (OM) vs. #124 Ingrid Gamarra Martins (SC) 6-3, 3-4, unfinished

3. Natalie Suk (OM) vs. Mia Horvit (SC) 2-6, 4-2, unfinished

4. Paige Cline (SC) def. Alexa Bortles (OM) 6-1, 6-0

5. Megan Davies (SC) def. Anna Vrbenska (OM) 6-1, 6-1

6. Tereza Janatova (OM) vs. Rachel Rohrabacher (SC) 6-7 (4-7), 0-1, unfinished

Order of finish

6, 1, 4, 5

QUOTABLE

“Ole Miss is a great team and it was coming off a tough contest against Florida two days ago. We knew we had to hit the ground running and establish early that we were ready to play a long match. I think that the strategy worked well. We have some home matches next week and we still have a few pieces of the puzzle to put together this week in practice, but I am proud of the girls for stepping up today. ” — Head Coach Kevin Epley

GAMECOCK NOTABLES

No. 45 Hadley Berg‘s win against No. 16 Arianne Hartono was her first career victory against a Top 25 opponent. It also marked the first loss of the season for Hartono, who was 8-0 entering Saturday’s match.
Megan Davies‘ win over Anna Vrbenska marked the first loss of the season for Vrbenska, who was 7-0 entering Saturday play.
The last time the Gamecocks defeated a Top 10 opponent was against No. 5 Vanderbilt on March 10, 2016. The Gamecocks were ranked 12th in that match and earned a 4-3 victory at the Carolina Tennis Center.
This sweep marks South Carolina’s third against Ole Miss in the all-time series and first at Ole Miss in program history. The other two sweeping victories came on March 4, 2007, a 7-0 sweep at home, and on April 7, 2013, a 4-0 sweep home.
With the win, South Carolina is 2-2 against ranked opponents this season. It faced its other ranked opponents at ITA Indoors from Feb. 9-11, defeating No. 11 Texas and falling to No. 9 Duke and No. 13 UCLA.
Berg’s 18-3 singles record this season has her at 92-30 overall, eight shy of 100 on her career, with a winning percentage of .754 that ranks seventh in school history. Berg is tied with Brigit Folland for seventh on the career list for singles wins with 92. She is looking to become just the fourth player in school history with 100 wins.
With her wins Thursday and Saturday, Berg is 4-0 at No. 1 singles in 2018. She is 8-2 over her last 10 matches.
The Gamecocks have amassed six sweeps this season: Oklahoma, Clemson, North Florida, Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina and No. 7 Ole Miss.
Saturday’s sweep was South Carolina’s first against a ranked opponent since it swept No. 40 Ole Miss, 4-0, at the Carolina Tennis Center on April 21, 2016.
After a 2-0 Mississippi road trip, head coach Kevin Epley is now six match wins away from reaching 100 at South Carolina and is five wins from 250 overall on his career.

UP NEXT FOR THE GAMECOCKS

The Gamecocks will play their first SEC home matches of the season against Texas A&M at 5:30 p.m. Friday and No. 43 LSU at 1 p.m. Sunday. South Carolina is 8-5 all-time against Texas A&M, including its most recent 4-2 win at home on March 3, 2017. Against LSU, the Gamecocks hold a 22-6 all-time series lead. LSU won the last matchup between the teams in Baton Rouge, 4-2, on March 5, 2017, while South Carolina won the last matchup between the teams at the Carolina Tennis Center, 4-3, on April 2, 2016.

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