Women's Tennis . March 29, 2018

No. 6 South Carolina Sweeps Missouri For 12th Straight Win

March 29, 2018

No. 6 South Carolina 4, Missouri 0

COLUMBIA, S.C. — No. 6 South Carolina women’s tennis (17-3, 9-0 SEC) recorded its eighth sweep of the season Thursday with a 4-0 win against Missouri at the Carolina Tennis Center.

The Gamecocks improved to 9-0 at home and remain in sole possession of first place in the SEC with the win. They have won 12 straight matches for the first time since the 1978-79 season. The win streak is tied for the second-longest in program history behind the team’s 22-match win streak in 1980. The Gamecocks are 7-0 all-time against Missouri in a series that dates back to Jan. 26, 2003.

DOUBLES

The Gamecocks took the doubles point for the eighth time in nine SEC matches behind two straight victories from No. 1 and No. 2 doubles.

All three South Carolina doubles tandems started strong and jumped out to 3-1 leads. Mia Horvit and Ingrid Gamarra Martins cruised to a 6-1 victory — their third straight when paired together. Similarly, Berg and Cline earned a 6-3 victory at No. 1 doubles — their third straight. The last time both tandems lost their doubles matches was at Georgia on March 18. Horvit and Gamarra Martins improved to 7-1 in SEC play and Berg and Cline improved to 5-1 in SEC play.

“It was just a matter of committing to what we do and how we play,” head coach Kevin Epley said of the team’s doubles tandems. “A very aggressive style of doubles. The combinations work really well. Mia stepped in and did a great job. Megan, as a freshman, down there, filling in and doing a great job with Rachel. And then, our veteran team: Hadley and Paige. Originally, we weren’t going to play them this year, but they’ve got a lot of experience and they’ve picked it up here recently.”

DOUBLES

1. Hadley Berg / Paige Cline (SC) def. Marta Oliveira/Clare Raley (MIZ) 6-3

2. Ingrid Gamarra Martins / Mia Horvit (SC) def. Amina Ismail/Serena Nash (MIZ) 6-1

3. Rachel Rohrabacher / Megan Davies (SC) vs. Ellie Wright/Mackenz Middlebrooks (MIZ) 5-2, unfinished

Order of finish

2, 1

SINGLES

With a 1-0 lead after doubles, the Gamecocks successfully carried that momentum into singles, winning all six first sets on every court.

Megan Davies was the first to secure a win with a 6-0, 6-2 victory on Court 5. The win marked the freshman’s fourth straight singles victory and improved her to a team-high 25 wins on the overall season.

Next off the court was Ingrid Gamarra Martins, who earned a dominant 6-2, 6-2 win against Serena Nash at No. 1 singles. Gamarra Martins is 4-1 at the No. 1 lineup spot this season, and showed she could bounce back easily after losing her most recent singles match at Alabama on March 24.

For the second time in the last three matches, Mia Horvit clinched the win for the Gamecocks. The sophomore All-American garnered a 6-2, 6-3 win over Taylor Gruber at No. 2 singles. Horvit is 4-0 at the No. 2 lineup spot and owns a four-match winning streak dating back to March 18 at Georgia.

SINGLES

1. #52 Ingrid Gamarra Martins (SC) def. Serena Nash (MIZ) 6-2, 6-2

2. Mia Horvit (SC) def. Taylor Gruber (MIZ) 6-2, 6-3

3. #31 Hadley Berg (SC) vs. Mackenz Middlebrooks (MIZ) 6-3, 5-0, unfinished

4. Paige Cline (SC) vs. Amina Ismail (MIZ) 6-2, 4-3, unfinished

5. Megan Davies (SC) def. Ellie Wright (MIZ) 6-0, 6-2

6. Rachel Rohrabacher (SC) vs. Clare Raley (MIZ) 6-3, 5-3, unfinished

Order of finish

5, 1, 2

QUOTABLE

“I was real happy, particularly with the way we came out in doubles. That was Gamecock doubles through and through. This is the SEC. We’re in the final stretch. We knew Missouri was going to compete hard. They’ve had a tough season, but they’re a very good team and we knew that going in. We knew we had to hit them hard in doubles. We came out of the blocks ready to go. Not much more you could ask for in terms of that and then obviously, turning that over into singles. Pretty dominant singles performance today. We’re just building each week. Trying to improve every week on what we did last week. We have Arkansas in a couple days. Try to do a little bit better in some of the things we noticed today.” — Head Coach Kevin Epley

GAMECOCK NOTABLES

The Gamecocks have amassed eight doubles points in nine SEC matches this season. Their sole loss in doubles came against Georgia on March 18.
South Carolina has utilized 11 doubles pairs in 2018. While their doubles match went unfinished against Mizzou on Thursday, Rachel Rohrabacher and Megan Davies lead the team at 9-1 in 2018 and are 8-1 in dual match play
In doubles, Gamarra Martins and Horvit have won three straight matches and lead the team at 7-1 in SEC play.
All-American doubles partners Paige Cline and Hadley Berg have also won three straight dating back to March 18. With their win Thursday, they improved to 5-1 in SEC doubles play.
The Gamecocks are the only undefeated team in SEC play at 9-0 and are in sole possession of first place in the conference standings.
This season marks the first time in program history the Gamecocks have ever opened SEC play at 9-0 and is the first time South Carolina went undefeated in SEC road play.
While her match went unfinished against Missouri, Hadley Berg’s 21-5 singles record this season has her at 95-32 overall, five wins shy of 100 on her career, with a winning percentage of .748 that ranks seventh in school history. She is looking to become just the fourth player in school history with 100 wins.
With her clinching singles win Thursday, Mia Horvit holds a four-match wining streak dating back to March 18 at Georgia.
The Gamecocks have amassed eight sweeps this season: Oklahoma, Clemson, North Florida, Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina, No. 7 Ole Miss, No. 35 Texas A&M and Missouri.
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 dating back to March 3 at Ole Miss. They face No. 48 Arkansas on Saturday with a chance to extend that streak.
The Gamecocks are 9-0 at home this season and 3-0 in SEC play at home.
While her matched went unfinished Thursday, Rachel Rohrabacher is 10-0 in 2018 singles play and holds a 12-match winning streak dating back to Jan. 14, 2018 at Florida Gulf Coast University.

UP NEXT FOR THE GAMECOCKS

The Gamecocks will continue their five-match homestand with a match against No. 48 Arkansas at 12 p.m. Saturday. The Gamecock are 24-6 all-time against Arkansas, winning the last two matches in 2016 and 2017.

Next weekend, they will face Florida at 1 p.m. on April 7. South Carolina is 2-44 all-time against the Gators and has not defeated them since May 16, 1982. Florida, which is ranked at No. 12 in this week’s Oracle/ITA polls, owns a 40-match winning streak over South Carolina.

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