Women's Tennis . March 22, 2018

No. 10 South Carolina Earns 10th Straight Win At No. 15 Auburn

March 22, 2018

No. 10 South Carolina 4, No. 15 Auburn 1

AUBURN, Ala. — No. 10 South Carolina women’s tennis (15-3, 7-0 SEC) continued rolling in SEC play with a 4-1 win at No. 15 Auburn on Thursday at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.

The Gamecocks won the doubles point and earned three singles victories from Ingrid Gamarra Martins, Paige Cline and Mia Horvit to hand Auburn its first home loss of the dual match campaign. The sole team point was surrendered in No. 31 Hadley Berg‘s singles loss to No. 79 Jaeda Daniel on Court 2.

The win achieved several milestones for the Gamecocks, including the first 7-0 start in SEC play in program history and head coach Kevin Epley’s 250th career win. The team’s 10-match win streak is its first since the 1998-1999 season when South Carolina won 10 straight from Feb. 13, 1999 — March 17, 1999.

DOUBLES

The Gamecocks earned their sixth doubles point in seven SEC matches with two 6-4 wins on Courts 1 and 2. All three doubles matches were close, but the tandems of Paige Cline and Hadley Berg and Ingrid Gamarra Martins and Mia Horvit were able to pull out their matches for the point.

Gamarra Martins and Horvit were the first off the court for the Gamecocks, earning a 6-4 victory over Carolina Turner and Georgie Axon at No. 2 doubles. Both tandems traded games back and forth, until the score was tied 4-4. From there, Horvit and Gamarra Martins grabbed two straight games to take a 6-4 win. With the win, the duo improved to a team-high 5-1 at No. 1 doubles in SEC play.

All-Americans Cline and Berg started their match against No. 67 Alizee Michaud and Taylor Russo in a three-game hole, but were able to tie the match, 4-4. With momentum in their favor, Cline and Berg powered through for the 6-4 win. The win marked the highest-ranked opponents Cline and Berg have defeated when paired together in 2018.

DOUBLES

1. Paige Cline / Hadley Berg (SC) def. #67 Alizee Michaud/Taylor Russo (AUBURN) 6-4

2. Ingrid Gamarra Martins / Mia Horvit (SC) def. Georgie Axon/Caroline Turner (AUBURN) 6-4

3. Jaeda Daniel/Madeline Meredith (AUBURN) vs. Megan Davies / Rachel Rohrabacher (SC) 6-5, unfinished

Order of finish

2, 1

SINGLES

For the second straight match, No. 52 Ingrid Gamarra Martins earned a dominant win in straight sets. The junior entered the match after defeating the top-ranked opponent in South Carolina program history in No. 2 Katarina Jokic at Georgia on March 18. Against Auburn, Gamarra Martins cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 win over Alizee Michaud on Court 1, improving her singles win streak to seven straight matches.

Hadley Berg suffered her first loss since March 16 on Court 2 to No. 79 Jaeda Daniel, who earned a 6-3, 6-2 victory. In the first set, Berg kept pace with Daniel, trailing by just one game, 3-4, but Daniel won two straight games from there. In similar fashion, Berg and Daniel traded games to start the second set, but Daniel gained steam from there en route to a 6-2 second set victory.

Paige Cline helped the Gamecocks extend their lead to 3-1 with a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 4 singles over Andie Dikosavljevic. Cline started her first set in dominant fashion, jumping out to a three-game lead over Dikosavljevic. The Auburn senior put up fight and was able to take three games in the first set, but Cline held on for the victory. In the second set, Cline took a 2-0 lead and maintained steady control from there. The win marked Cline’s fourth straight and improved the South Carolina junior to 4-1 in SEC play at No. 4 singles.

Sophomore All-American Mia Horvit clinched the match for the Gamecocks with a 6-3, 6-2 win on Court 2 over Madeline Meredith. After the score was tied 2-2 in the first set of her match, Horvit turned on the jets to a 6-3 win. Horvit rolled to a three-game lead in the second set and controlled the pace from there, improving to 2-1 in SEC play and 6-4 over her last 10 matches with the win.

SINGLES

1. #52 Ingrid Gamarra Martins (SC) def. Alizee Michaud (AUBURN) 6-3, 6-2

2. #79 Jaeda Daniel (AUBURN) def. #31 Hadley Berg (SC) 6-3, 6-2

3. Mia Horvit (SC) def. Madeline Meredith (AUBURN) 6-3, 6-2

4. Paige Cline (SC) def. Andie Dikosavljevic (AUBURN) 6-3, 6-3

5. Taylor Russo (AUBURN) vs. Megan Davies (SC) 6-4, 3-4, unfinished

6. Georgie Axon (AUBURN) vs. Rachel Rohrabacher (SC) 4-6, 3-3, unfinished

Order of finish

1, 2, 4, 3

QUOTABLE

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“Always great to get a win on the road in the SEC. Auburn is a good team and the girls handled themselves very well on court. Our team was tremendous tonight from an energy and attitude standpoint and has really taken ownership over the last few weeks. Back to work tomorrow as we head to Tuscaloosa to take on Alabama.” — Associate Head Coach Jeff Nevolo

GAMECOCK NOTABLES

South Carolina’s 10-match win streak is its first since the 1998-1999 season when it won 10 straight matches from Feb. 13, 1999 — March 17, 1999.
Thursday’s win marked the 250th win in Head Coach Kevin Epley’s career.
Prior to Thursday’s win, which snapped a three-match losing streak for South Carolina against Auburn, the last time the Gamecocks had defeated the Tigers was on Feb. 27, 2015 in a 4-1 win at home.
Prior to Thursday’s win, the last time South Carolina had earned a road win at Auburn was on April 1, 2012.
The Gamecocks have amassed six doubles points in seven SEC matches this season. Their sole loss in doubles came against Georgia on March 18.
In seven SEC matches so far, the Gamecocks have surrendered just six team points.
Paige Cline‘s and Hadley Berg‘s doubles match victory over No. 67 Alizee Michaud and Taylor Russo marked the highest-ranked win of the season for the All-Americans. The duo overcame a three-game deficit to clinch the doubles point for the Gamecocks.
Cline and Berg are 3-1 at No. 1 doubles in SEC play. Individually, Cline is 7-3 and Berg is 9-4 in 2018 dual match doubles play.
Gamarra Martins and Horvit lead the Gamecocks at 5-1 when paired together in SEC play. The duo lost its only match at Georgia on March 18. Individually, Gamarra Martins is 11-4 and Horvit is 8-3 in dual match doubles play.
With the win, South Carolina is now 28-9 in the all-time series against Auburn.
South Carolina is 7-2 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, No. 8 Georgia and No. 15 Auburn. The Gamecocks hold a six-match winning streak against ranked opponents.
Though she lost Thursday, Berg’s 20-5 singles record this season has her at 94-32 overall, six wins shy of 100 on her career, with a winning percentage of .746 that ranks seventh in school history. She is looking to become just the fourth player in school history with 100 wins.Berg is tied with Tamara Sutton for sixth on the South Carolina career singles wins list with 94 overall.
South Carolina’s win snapped Auburns’ undefeated 11-0 record at home. Auburn is 11-1 at the Yarbrough Tennis Center with the loss.
The Gamecocks are 6-1 on the road this season and are 5-0 in SEC road play.
Head Coach Kevin Epley is now one win away from reaching 100 at South Carolina.

UP NEXT FOR THE GAMECOCKS

South Carolina heads to Tuscaloosa to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday. The team holds a 16-12 all-time record against Alabama, 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 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).