Women's Tennis . March 18, 2018

No. 10 South Carolina Rolls No. 8 Georgia, 4-1

March 18, 2018

No. 10 South Carolina 4, No. 8 Georgia 1

ATHENS, Ga. — No. 10 South Carolina women’s tennis (14-3, 6-0 SEC) remains the only undefeated team in SEC play after a 4-1 comeback victory at No. 8 Georgia on Sunday.

The Gamecocks lost the doubles point, but rattled off four straight singles victories to capture their ninth straight win this season. South Carolina’s win against Georgia marked the team’s first since April 23, 2010 and snapped an eight-match losing streak against the Bulldogs.

With the win, the Gamecocks improved to 5-1 on the road this season and have taken down five straight ranked opponents.

DOUBLES

For the first time in eight matches, the Gamecocks lost the doubles point. South Carolina fought hard on all three courts, but was edged out in two straight matches with Court 1’s match going unfinished.

Rachel Rohrabacher and Megan Davies‘ nine-match winning streak was snapped against Kennedy Shaffer and Annette Goulak, who won on Court 3, 6-4. Davies and Rohrabacher jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, but Shaffer and Goulak took the next game to tie the score at 1-1. The South Carolina duo rolled off two straight game victories and traded games with Georgia to tie the score at 3-3. Davies and Rohrabacher dropped the next two games to take a 3-5 deficit. They fought back in the next game, cutting the deficit to one game, 4-5, but Georgia’s Goulak and Shaffer clinched the match, 6-4. The loss marked the first for Davies and Rohrabacher when paired together.

The Bulldogs clinched the doubles point with No. 12 Katarina Jokic’s and Mariana Gould’s 6-4 victory on Court 2. The loss snapped Mia Horvit‘s and Ingrid Gamarra Martins’ five-match winning streak dating back to Feb. 25 against Coastal Carolina. The South Carolina tandem dropped its first game, but came back and tied the score at 1-1. The Bulldogs and Gamecocks traded three tight games back and forth to tie the score at 4-4. Georgia’s Jokic and Gould took a 5-4 lead from there and went on to win the match, 6-4.

With the losses, Davies and Rohrabacher dropped to 8-1, while Gamarra Martins and Horvit dropped to 5-2 in 2018 dual match play.

DOUBLES

1. #10 Elena Christofi/Morgan Coppoc (UGA) vs. Paige Cline / Hadley Berg (SC) 5-6, unfinished

2. #12 Katarina Jokic/Mariana Gould (UGA) def. Ingrid Gamarra Martins / Mia Horvit (SC) 6-4

3. Annette Goulak/Kennedy Shaffer (UGA) def. Megan Davies / Rachel Rohrabacher (SC) 6-4

Order of finish

3, 2

SINGLES

After a singles loss on Friday at Tennessee, No. 29 Hadley Berg bounced back with a win in straight sets on Sunday. Berg defeated No. 59 Kennedy Shaffer, 6-1, 6-2 on Court 2, and tied the team score at 1-1. The senior improved to 8-3 in 2018 dual match play and has now defeated two ranked opponents this season, including a win over No. 16 Arianne Hartono of Ole Miss on March 3.

Shortly after Berg wrapped her singles match, Mia Horvit earned a 6-3, 6-1 victory on Court 3 over Elena Christofi. The win was Horvit’s first in SEC play this season with her last win coming at home against Charleston Southern on Feb. 24.

Ingrid Gamarra Martins took down the highest-ranked singles player of her career with a 6-3, 6-1 victory on Court 1 over No. 2 Katarina Jokic. The win was Martins’ second straight at No. 1 singles and extended her winning streak to six matches.

The Gamecocks’ clinched the come-from-behind victory with Rachel Rohrabacher‘s 7-6(8-6), 6-0 win on Court 6 over Vivian Wolff. In the first set, Rohrabacher took a 4-0 lead, but Wolff was able to gain ground and tie the match at 5-5. Tied at 6 all, Wolff and Rohrabacher battled into a tiebreaker, which Rohrabacher was able to take, 8-6. In a complete turnaround, the junior dominated the second set, winning six straight games and clinching the victory for the Gamecocks. With her singles win, Rohrabacher improved to 9-0 in dual match play and extended her winning streak to 11 matches.

SINGLES

1. #110 Ingrid Gamarra Martins (SC) def. #2 Katarina Jokic (UGA) 6-3, 6-1

2. #29 Hadley Berg (SC) def. #59 Kennedy Shaffer (UGA) 6-1, 6-2

3. Mia Horvit (SC) def. Elena Christofi (UGA) 6-3, 6-1

4. #125 Mariana Gould (UGA) vs. Paige Cline (SC) 6-4, 4-2, unfinished

5. #93 Morgan Coppoc (UGA) vs. #121 Megan Davies (SC) 5-7, 6-0, unfinished

6. Rachel Rohrabacher (SC) def. Vivian Wolff (UGA) 7-6 (8-6), 6-0

Order of finish

2, 3, 1, 6

QUOTABLE

“It was a great team effort today. We knew going in that beating Georgia at home would be tough. We knew we had to get out to a great start in singles and the top three courts really came out on a mission. Those courts all finished within a couple of minutes and gave us a lot of momentum. Rachel (Rohrabacher) has been doing a great job all season and we were thrilled to see her clinch it.” — Head Coach Kevin Epley

GAMECOCK NOTABLES

Prior to Sunday’s match, the last time South Carolina defeated Georgia during the regular season was on April 12, 1997 in a 5-4 win at home.
The last time South Carolina had defeated Georgia in a regular season road match prior to Sunday was on April 17, 1996.
The last time the Gamecocks defeated a Top 10 opponent was on March 3 with their 4-0 sweep at No. 7 Ole Miss.
Sunday’s loss in doubles was the first for the Gamecocks in eight matches dating back to Feb. 11 when they lost the point against No. 13 UCLA at ITA Indoors.
After an 8-0 start together in 2018 doubles play, Rohrabacher and Davies suffered their first loss of the season Sunday. The duo still leads the Gamecocks at 9-1 in 2018 doubles play (8-1 dual match play).
South Carolina is 6-2 against ranked opponents this season, including wins at No. 7 Ole Miss, No. 11 Texas, No. 35 Texas A&M, No. 36 LSU, No. 30 Tennessee and No. 8 Georgia. The Gamecocks hold a five-match winning streak against ranked opponents.
With her 6-3, 6-1 win in straight sets on Sunday, Ingrid Gamarra Martins defeated the highest-ranked opponent of her career in No. 2 Katarina Jokic. The South Carolina junior holds a six-match winning streak in singles and is 2-0 at No. 1 singles in SEC play.
The last time the Gamecocks started SEC play at 6-0 was in 2015-16.
Berg’s 20-4 singles record this season has her at 94-31 overall, six wins shy of 100 on her career, with a winning percentage of .752 that ranks seventh in school history. She is looking to become just the fourth player in school history with 100 wins.
With her win Sunday, Berg is now tied with Tamara Sutton for sixth on the South Carolina career singles wins list with 94 overall.
South Carolina’s win snapped Georgia’s eight-match winning streak over the Gamecocks. Prior to Sunday’s match, the last time the Gamecocks had defeated Georgia was on April 23, 2010 in the SEC Tournament Quarterfinals, 4-3.
Rohrabacher is 9-0 in 2018 singles play and holds an 11-match winning streak dating back to Jan. 14, 2018 at Florida Gulf Coast University.
The Gamecocks are 5-1 on the road this season and are 4-0 in SEC road play.
Head Coach Kevin Epley is now two match wins away from reaching 100 at South Carolina and is one win from 250 overall on his career.

UP NEXT FOR THE GAMECOCKS

The Gamecocks will travel to Auburn on March 22 and Alabama on March 24 for their last away matches of the regular season. The team is 27-9 all-time against the Tigers, but lost the past three meetings with the team. The last time the Gamecocks defeated Auburn was on Feb. 27, 2015, at the Carolina Tennis Center. Their last road win against Auburn was on April 1, 2012. South Carolina holds a 16-12 all-time record against the Tide, including a two-match winning streak dating back to April 10, 2016. The Gamecocks will return to the Carolina Tennis Center on March 29 when they open a five-match SEC home stand against Missouri.

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