Women's Tennis Wraps Regular Season With Sweep
April 14, 2018
No. 7 South Carolina 4, No. 23 Kentucky 0
COLUMBIA, S.C. — No. 7 South Carolina women’s tennis (19-5, 11-2 SEC) wrapped the regular season with a sweep over No. 23 Kentucky at the Carolina Tennis Center on Saturday.
The Gamecocks captured the doubles point behind a 6-4 win from Paige Cline and Hadley Berg and a come-from-behind 7-5 win from Kennedy Wicker and Megan Davies, and three straight singles wins from Cline, Mia Horvit and Davies.
With the win, the Gamecocks improved to 11-2 in SEC play — the best league record in program histoy. They finished the regular season at third place in the SEC, which is tied for the best finish since the 1996 season.
DOUBLES
The Gamecocks won their 10th doubles point in 13 SEC matches with two wins at No. 1 and 3 doubles.
No. 55 Paige Cline and Hadley Berg were first off the court with a 6-4 win over No. 67 Lesedi Jacobs and Emily Fanning. The win marked their second over a ranked tandem this season and tied the highest-ranked opponent the pair has defeated in dual match play. Previously, the All-American doubles tandem took down Auburn’s No. 67 Alizee Michaud and Taylor Russo on March 22.
Mia Horvit and Ingrid Gamarra Martins‘ four-match streak in doubles snapped in their loss to Mami Adachi and Justina Mikulskyte at No. 2 doubles. The tandem found itself in a 1-3 hole, before cutting Kentucky’s lead to one game, 3-4. Adachi and Mikulskyte extended their lead to 3-5 and won the match in the next game. Horvit and Gamarra Martins finished the regular season at 9-3 overall and 8-2 at No. 2 doubles.
Kennedy Wicker and Megan Davies, who were paired for the second time in dual match play, earned their first win together at No. 3 doubles. Trailing 3-5, the freshman duo mounted a huge comeback and won four straight games to defeat Brianna Tulloch and Diana Tkachenko, 7-5.
DOUBLES
1. #55 Hadley Berg / Paige Cline (SC) def. #67 Emily Fanning/Lesedi Jacobs (UK) 6-4
2. Mami Adachi/Justina Mikulskyte (UK) def. Ingrid Gamarra Martins/Mia Horvit (SC) 6-4
3. Megan Davies / Kennedy Wicker (SC) def. Brianna Tulloch/Diana Tkachenko (UK) 7-5
Order of finish
1, 2, 3
SINGLES
Paige Cline extended South Carolina’s lead to 2-0 with her win in straight sets at No. 4 singles. The win was Cline’s seventh straight in SEC play, with all seven of those wins coming in straight sets. Cline’s sole loss in SEC play was on March 1 in the first match of league play at Mississipi State. Cline wrapped the regular season with a 9-1 record in dual match play, going 7-1 at No. 4 singles.
Mia Horvit extended the team’s lead to 3-0 with her 10th win of the season in straight sets. The sophomore All-American notched her first “perfect” 6-0 set of SEC play and second of the season. With the win, Horvit improved to 6-1 at No. 3 singles this season and is 6-2 in SEC singles play.
Freshman Megan Davies clinched the sweep for the Gamecocks at No. 5 singles. The win was a team-high 12th for Davies, who is 8-2 over her last 10 matches.
SINGLES
1. #58 Ingrid Gamarra Martins (SC) vs. Emily Fanning (UK) 7-6 (7-5), 2-1, unfinished
2. #32 Hadley Berg (SC) vs. #87 Justina Mikulskyte (UK) 4-6, 4-3, unfinished
3. Mia Horvit (SC) def. Mami Adachi (UK) 6-0, 6-4
4. Paige Cline (SC) def. Diana Tkachenko (UK) 6-2, 6-1
5. Megan Davies (SC) def. Lesedi Jacobs (UK) 6-1, 6-4
6. Kennedy Wicker (SC) vs. Brianna Tulloch (UK) 5-7, 4-1, unfinished
Order of finish
4, 3, 5
QUOTABLE
GAMECOCK NOTABLES
- In doubles, Gamarra Martins’ and Horvit’s four-match win streak was snapped against Mami Adachi and Justina Mikulskyte, who won, 6-4 at No. 2. The duo is 8-2 in SEC doubles play.
- Hadley Berg and Paige Cline finished the regular season with a 9-4 record in dual match play and a 7-2 record at No. 1 doubles.
- The Gamecocks have won 10 doubles points in 13 SEC matches this season. Their two losses in doubles came against Georgia on March 18 and Vanderbilt on April 12. The team did not play doubles in its loss to Florida due to impending rain in the forecast.
- Paige Cline‘s and Hadley Berg‘s victory over No. 67 Lesedi Jacobs and Emily Fanning tied their highest-ranked doubles win of the season. The tandem previously defeated Auburn’s No. 67 Alizee Michaud and Taylor Russo on March 22.
- Paige Cline holds a seven-match winning streak in SEC play dating back to her win over Alexa Bortles at No. 7 Ole Miss on March 3. All seven of those wins came in straight sets.
- Paige Cline and Rachel Rohrabacher both finished the dual match season with just one loss apiece, going 9-1 and 11-1, respectively.
- While her match went unfinished Saturday, Hadley Berg‘s 23-6 singles record this season has her at 97-33 overall, three 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 fifth on the South Carolina career singles wins list with 97 overall.
- All 10 of Horvit’s wins this dual match season have come in straight sets.
- South Carolina is now 9-4 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, No. 48 Arkansas and No. 23 Kentucky.
- The Gamecocks have amassed 11 sweeps this season, including over South Florida, Oklahoma, Clemson, Charleston Southern, North Florida, Coastal Carolina, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Missouri, Arkansas and Kentucky.
UP NEXT FOR THE GAMECOCKS
The Gamecocks will travel to Knoxville, Tenn., for the 2018 SEC Tournament, hosted by the University of Tennessee. With its guaranteed third-place finish in the league, South Carolina has earned a first and second round bye in the SEC Tournament. The tournament bracket will be released on April 15.
For updates, continue to check back with GamecocksOnline.com or follow the team on social media (@GamecockWTennis).
