Women's Tennis . March 31, 2018

No. 6 South Carolina Sweeps No. 48 Arkansas

March 31, 2018

No. 6 South Carolina 4, No. 48 Arkansas 0

COLUMBIA, S.C. — No. 6 South Carolina women’s tennis (18-3, 10-0 SEC) extended its winning streak to 13 matches with a 4-0 sweep over No. 48 Arkansas at the Carolina Tennis Center on Saturday.

The Gamecocks won the doubles point in two straight matches and No. 31 Hadley Berg, Paige Cline and Rachel Rohrabacher won their singles matches in straight sets to complete the team’s ninth sweep of the season.

The win improved South Carolina to 10-0 at home and marked an undefeated month of March for the first time since 1980. The Gamecocks are the only undefeated team in SEC play at 10-0 and are in sole possession of first place in the conference standings. The team’s 13-match winning streak is the second-longest winning streak in program history behind South Carolina’s 22-match winning streak in 1979-1980.

DOUBLES

The Gamecocks continued to roll in SEC doubles play, securing their ninth point in 10 conference matches. Rachel Rohrabacher and Megan Davies did not surrender a single game against Agne Cepelyte and Natsuho Arakawa at No. 3 doubles. The tandem improved to 9-1 overall and 5-1 in SEC play with the win.

Ingrid Gamarra Martins and Mia Horvit secured the point for the Gamecocks with a 6-3 win at No. 2 doubles. The tandem climbed out of a 1-2 deficit by winning two straight games and powering its way past Giulia Pairone and Mia Jurasic. The tandem has won four straight matches and is 8-2 over its last 10 matches.

“We knew that Arkansas was going to have some pretty solid doubles,” head coach Kevin Epley said. “I think they were 15-2 coming in. We played pretty good overall. We were a little tight here and there, but I think we worked through it and got it going. It was nice to get those wins at two and three. Arkansas is very good at those spots. That was the big thing. Trying to get that point on the board going into singles.”

DOUBLES

1. Hadley Berg / Paige Cline (SC) vs. #40 Ana Oparenovic/Tatum Rice (AR) 5-5, unfinished

2. Ingrid Gamarra Martins / Mia Horvit (SC) def. Giulia Pairone/Mia Jurasic (AR) 6-3

3. Megan Davies / Rachel Rohrabacher (SC) def. Agne Cepelyte/Natsuho Arakawa (AR) 6-0

Order of finish

3, 2

SINGLES

Similar to its singles play against Missouri on Thursday, South Carolina was dominant in singles play against Arkansas on Saturday. Each Gamecock won her first set and the team’s three singles wins all came in straight sets.

No. 31 Hadley Berg was the first off the court for the Gamecocks after posting a perfect 6-0 first set and recording a 6-2 second set against Arkansas’ Mia Jurasic. The win was Berg’s first at No. 3 singles this year. The senior is 10-4 on the dual match season and is now four wins shy of 100 on her career.

Next off the court for the Gamecocks was Paige Cline, who garnered her fifth straight singles win on Court 4, 6-3, 6-2. The junior Cline started her first set with a one-game deficit, but rallied to tie the score, 3-3. From there, Cline won three straight games to take the first set. With momentum in her favor, Cline took a commanding 2-0 lead in her second set and powered through for the win.

“I thought we fought really hard, particularly on four,” Epley said. “I felt like Paige (Cline) was really working hard in those points. Wasn’t playing her best early today and kind of just put mind over matter and got it done.”

Quickly after Cline won her match on Court 4, Rachel Rohrabacher clinched the sweep for the Gamecocks with a 6-2, 6-2 win on Court 6. Rohrabacher owns a 13-match win streak in singles and is 11-0 in 2018. She has amassed three clinchers in the past three weekends.

SINGLES

1. #46 Ingrid Gamarra Martins (SC) vs. #55 Giulia Pairone (AR) 7-5, 3-1, unfinished

2. Mia Horvit (SC) vs. #76 Ana Oparenovic (AR) 6-4, 1-4, unfinished

3. #31 Hadley Berg (SC) def. Mia Jurasic (AR) 6-0, 6-2

4. Paige Cline (SC) def. Natsuho Arakawa (AR) 6-3, 6-2

5. Megan Davies (SC) vs. Tatum Rice (AR) 6-4, 5-3, unfinished

6. Rachel Rohrabacher (SC) def. Agne Cepelyte (AR) 6-2, 6-2

Order of finish

3, 4, 6

QUOTABLE

“Overall, we’re real happy. It’s a real tough Arkansas team. All of these teams in the SEC are very strong. Arkansas beat Kansas, which is a top 20 team, earlier in the year, so we knew we were going to have our hands full. We had to fight all the way through to get the four points.” — Head Coach Kevin Epley

GAMECOCK NOTABLES

The Gamecocks have won nine doubles points in 10 SEC matches this season. Their sole loss in doubles came against Georgia on March 18.
South Carolina has utilized 11 doubles pairs in 2018. Rachel Rohrabacher and Megan Davies lead the team at 10-1 in 2018 and are 9-1 in dual match play.
In doubles, Gamarra Martins and Horvit have won four straight matches and lead the team at 8-1 in SEC play.
Hadley Berg‘s 22-5 singles record this season has her at 96-32 overall, four wins shy of 100 on her career, with a winning percentage of .750 that ranks seventh in school history. She is looking to become just the fourth player in school history with 100 wins.
With 96 career singles wins, Berg is tied with Natasa Vuckovic for fifth on the South Carolina career singles wins list.
This season marks the first time in program history the Gamecocks have ever opened SEC play at 10-0 and is the first time South Carolina went undefeated in SEC road play. The previous best start was 6-0 in 2015-16.
While her match went unfinished Saturday, Mia Horvit holds a four-match winning streak dating back to March 18 at Georgia.
The Gamecocks have amassed nine sweeps this season: Oklahoma, Clemson, North Florida, Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina, No. 7 Ole Miss, No. 35 Texas A&M, Missouri and No. 48 Arkansas.
South Carolina is 8-2 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, No. 15 Auburn and No. 48 Arkansas. The Gamecocks hold a seven-match winning streak against ranked opponents dating back to March 3 at Ole Miss.
The Gamecocks are 10-0 at home this season and 4-0 in SEC play at home.
The Gamecocks went undefeated in the month of march for the first time since the 1979-80 season.
Cline holds a five-match win streak in SEC play dating back to her win over Alexa Bortles at No. 7 Ole Miss on March 3.
Rachel Rohrabacher is 11-0 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 next weekend, facing Florida at 1 p.m. Saturday. 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).