Women's Tennis . March 21, 2018

Gamecocks Set For Last Regular Season Road Trip

March 21, 2018

No. 10 South Carolina at No. 15 Auburn & Alabama

Auburn, Ala. — Looking to build on its nine-match win streak and 6-0 start in SEC play, No. 10 South Carolina women’s tennis travels to face Auburn on Thursday and Alabama on Saturday.

The road trip marks the last for the Gamecocks of the 2018 regular season after starting the year with a 5-1 record away from the Carolina Tennis Center. South Carolina is coming off a 4-1 win at No. 30 Tennessee on Friday and a 4-1 comeback win at No. 8 Georgia on Sunday. The win against Georgia was the first in head coach Kevin Epley’s career at South Carolina and snapped an eight-game losing streak against the Bulldogs dating back to April 23, 2010. South Carolina lost the doubles point in that match, but rattled off four straight singles wins to earn the victory, including Ingrid Gamarra Martins‘ 6-3, 6-1 victory over No. 2 Katarina Jokic — the highest-ranked victory in program history.

South Carolina is 27-9 all-time against Auburn, but lost the past three meetings with the team. The last time the Gamecocks defeated the Tigers 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 Alabama, including a two-match winning streak dating back to April 10, 2016.

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“The team is excited to compete on the road again this weekend. Every weekend in the SEC is a battle and an opportunity to get better. We are focused on improving a few things from last weekend and building on the work we’ve been putting in.” — Associate Head Coach Jeff Nevolo

GAMECOCK NOTABLES

The Gamecocks are the only undefeated team in SEC play at 6-0 and are in sole possession of first place in the conference standings.
The Gamecocks moved up three spots to a season-high No. 8 in the USTA Top 25 national rankings, it was announced March 21. The team received 165 points and is one of eight SEC teams ranked in the Top 25.
The Gamecocks remain at a season-high No. 10 in this week’s Oracle/ITA polls.
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 in South Carolina program history 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.
Ranked in singles: Hadley Berg (31), Ingrid Gamarra Martins (52)
Ranked in doubles: Megan Davies and Silvia Chinellato (65), Paige Cline and Ingrid Gamarra Martins (72)
South Carolina has utilized 11 doubles pairs in 2018. Junior Rachel Rohrabacher and freshman Megan Davies lead the team at 9-1 in 2018 and are 8-1 in dual match play.
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.
Berg is now tied with Tamara Sutton for sixth on the South Carolina career singles wins list with 94 overall.
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.
The last time the Gamecocks started SEC play at 6-0 was in 2015-16.
The Gamecocks have amassed seven sweeps this season: Oklahoma, Clemson, North Florida, Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina, No. 7 Ole Miss and No. 35 Texas A&M.
Epley is two match wins away from reaching 100 at South Carolina and is one win 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 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 NO. 15 AUBURN

Auburn is 16-5 overall this season and 4-1 in SEC play. Like the Gamecocks, the Tigers are undefeated at home at 11-0.
Auburn holds a five-match winning streak dating back to March 4 with a 4-3 win at Kentucky.
The Tigers’ sole SEC loss this season came at Vanderbilt, which won 4-1 on March 2.
Last season, the Tigers finished the year with a 25-11 overall record, but went 5-8 in conference play.
Similar to the Gamecocks, the Tigers advanced to ITA National Indoors this year. The team lost its first match and finished 1-2 on the weekend with a victory over No. 10 Michigan.
Ranked in singles: Jaeda Daniel (79)
Ranked in doubles: Alizee Michaud and Taylor Russo (67)
Auburn has had two players named SEC Freshman of the Week in Madeline Meredith on Feb. 28 and Jaeda Daniel on March 14.
The doubles tandem of Jaeda Daniel and Madeline Meredith is 9-1 in 2018 dual match play, primarily playing at the No. 3 doubles spot.
Last season, the Tigers sent Allie Michaud and Andie Dikosavljevic to the NCAA Singles Championship. Neither player advanced past the first round.

SCOUTING ALABAMA

Alabama is 13-8 this season with a 0-5 record in SEC play, including losses against Auburn, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt. The team started off its season hot with a nine-match winning streak in non-conference play but has struggled in SEC play, especially on the road.
The Tide hold a 9-2 record at home this season, but are 1-4 on the road.
The Alabama roster is composed of one freshman, five sophomores, one junior and one senior.
Head Coach Jenny Mainz, who is in her seventh season with the Tide, is a three-time SEC Coach of the Year in 2011, 2012 and 2014.
Last year, Alabama went 8-16 overall, including an 0-7 road record.
Alba Cortina-Pou leads the Tide at 10-1 in dual match singles play. She is the only member on Alabama’s squad who is undefeated in conference play at 3-0 in singles. She holds a team-high six-match winning streak.
The doubles tandem of Smith Hinton and Jacqueline Pelletier is 9-4 in 2018 dual match play, going 8-4 at No. 3 doubles.
Combined, Alabama’s players are 63-38 in dual match singles play and 35-16 in dual match doubles play.
Against nationally-ranked singles players, Alabama is 1-10 as a team. Andie Daniell is the sole member of the Tide who has garnered a win over a ranked opponent this season. Again nationally-ranked doubles teams, Alabama is 0-6 this season.
Alabama was ranked No. 49 in the Oracle/ITA rankings that were released on March 6, but it has not been ranked in the past two weeks.
Alabama has been swept twice this season, including losses at No. 4 Vanderbilt on March 4 and No. 13 Auburn most recently on March 16.
UP NEXT FOR THE GAMECOCKS

Following their last road trip of the regular season, the Gamecocks will return to the Carolina Tennis Center on March 29 when they open a five-match SEC home stand against Missouri at 5:30 p.m. Free burgers will be available for fans at the match.

The Gamecocks’ last regular season opponents include Missouri, Arkansas, Florida, Vanderbilt and Kentucky.

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