Women's Tennis . May 17, 2018

Gamecocks' Historic Season Ends In Sweet 16

May 17, 2018

No. 7 Georgia 4, No. 10 South Carolina 3

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — South Carolina women’s tennis (21-7, 11-2 SEC) saw its historic season come to an end in the NCAA Tournament Round of 16 on Thursday.

No. 7 Georgia came back from an early deficit to defeat the No. 10 Gamecocks, 4-3, in a thriller at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center in Chapel Hill, N.C.

The Gamecocks won the doubles point and No. 34 Hadley Berg and Mia Horvit won their singles matches, but Georgia won four singles matches to take the match and advance to the Elite Eight.

DOUBLES

The Gamecocks defeated two Top-30 tandems to take the doubles point against Georgia for the first time this season.

No. 63 Hadley Berg and Paige Cline defeated the nation’s No. 10 tandem in Eleni Christofi and Morgan Coppoc. The win marked the highest-ranked doubles victory for the Gamecocks in the dual match season. The All-Americans Berg and Cline jumped out to a commanding 3-0 lead. The South Carolina tandem lost two straight games, but bounced back with three straight wins to take the match, 6-2. With the win, Berg and Cline improved to 11-4 as a tandem in the dual match season and have won three straight matches.

After taking down the No. 16 tandem in the nation against Virginia, Mia Horvit and Ingrid Gamarra Martins captured the doubles point with another ranked win against No. 26 Mariana Gould and Katarina Jokic. Horvit and Gamarra Martins lost the first game, but garnered five straight wins to take a dominant 5-1 lead at No. 2 doubles. The South Carolina tandem surrendered the next game, but won the last game to seal the doubles point. Gamarra Martins and Horvit have won three straight doubles matches when pair together, and improved to 12-3 on the dual match season with their win against Georgia.

DOUBLES

1. #63 Paige Cline / Hadley Berg (SOUTH CAROLINA) def. #10 Elena Christofi/Morgan Coppoc (GEORGIA) 6-2

2. Ingrid Gamarra Martins / Mia Horvit (SOUTH CAROLINA) def. #26 Mariana Gould/Katarina Jokic (GEORGIA) 6-2

3. Kennedy Shaffer/Annette Goulak (GEORGIA) vs. Megan Davies / Rachel Rohrabacher (SOUTH CAROLINA) 3-5, unf.

Order of finish

1, 2

SINGLES

No. 103 Morgan Coppoc tied the team score for the Bulldogs with a win in straight sets over South Carolina’s Rachel Rohrabacher. Coppoc earned a 6-1 victory in the first set, and jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the second. Rohrabacher continued to fight in the second set, earning four wins before Coppoc garnered her 11th straight win. The loss marked just Rohrabacher’s second of the dual match campaign.

The Bulldogs took their first lead of the match with Mariana Gould’s 6-4, 6-1 win over Paige Cline on Court 4. Cline won the first games of both sets, but Gould was able to mount comebacks each time. In the first set, the players traded games until the score was tied, 4-4. Gould capitalized at the end of the set, winning two in a row to take it, 6-4. In the second set, Gould dominated after Cline’s early lead, rattling off six straight games to take the match and give Georgia its first lead of the contest.

No. 34 Hadley Berg reached career win No. 99 with a 6-2, 6-4 victory on Court 2 over No. 75 Kennedy Shaffer. Following Berg’s win, Mia Horvit gave the lead back to the Gamecocks with a 7-5, 6-1 win over No. 90 Marta Gonzalez at No. 3 singles.

Georgia evened the score back up with Eleni Christofi’s win on Court 5 over Megan Davies in three sets. Davies lost the first set, but rebounded in the second with a 6-4 win. The two battled in the third set, with Christofi progressing to a 5-3 advantage before winning the match.

With the match tied, 3-3, the final point came down to a three-set battle between No. 59 Ingrid Gamarra Martins and No. 12 Katarina Jokic at No. 1 singles. Jokic won the first set, 6-1, but Gamarra Martins found her footing and took the second set, 6-3. Gamarra Martins experienced cramping and had to take a medical timeout midway through the third set, but the freshman Jokic powered through to clinch the match and send Georgia to the Elite Eight with a 4-3 win.

SINGLES

1. #12 Katarina Jokic (GEORGIA) def. #59 Ingrid Gamarra Martins (SOUTH CAROLINA) 6-1, 3-6, 6-4

2. #34 Hadley Berg (SOUTH CAROLINA) def. #75 Kennedy Shaffer (GEORGIA) 6-2, 6-4

3. Mia Horvit (SOUTH CAROLINA) def. #90 Marta Gonzalez (GEORGIA) 7-5, 6-1

4. Mariana Gould (GEORGIA) def. Paige Cline (SOUTH CAROLINA) 6-4, 6-1

5. Elena Christofi (GEORGIA) def. #113 Megan Davies (SOUTH CAROLINA) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3

6. #103 Morgan Coppoc (GEORGIA) def. Rachel Rohrabacher (SOUTH CAROLINA) 6-1, 6-4

Order of finish

6, 4, 2, 3, 5, 1

QUOTABLE

“Today really could’ve gone either way. At no point, did I think we were going to win it or they were going to win it. It was one of those matches that didn’t have a feel for what the difference was. In that match, I think Jokic played solid enough. We had that little muscle cramp go down and that little difference. Up to that point, I think we were getting some momentum and that kind of took the wind out of our sails. Credit to Jokic because she stepped up, concentrated hard and got it done, after losing to Ingrid (Gamarra Martins) earlier in the season.” — Head Coach Kevin Epley

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

South Carolina finished the season at 10-5 against ranked opponents, 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, No. 23 Kentucky and No. 23 Virginia.
Hadley Berg‘s 25-7 singles record this season has her at 99-34 overall, one win shy of 100 on her career, with a winning percentage of .744 that ranks seventh in school history.
The Gamecocks hosted ITA Kick-Off Weekend for the first time this season, defeating both Oklahoma and Clemson to advance to the ITA Indoor National Championships.
The Gamecocks’ 13-match winning streak from Feb. 24-March 31 was the second-longest winning streak in program history and the longest since 1980, when the team won 22 straight matches.
The Gamecocks amassed 13 sweeps this season, including wins over South Florida, Oklahoma, Clemson, Charleston Southern, North Florida, Coastal Carolina, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Quinnipiac and Virginia.
With a 40-7 record and .851 winning percentage, Rachel Rohrabacher is the first player to finish the season with a combined winning percentage of 80 or higher since the 1982-83 season.
Megan Davies‘ 56 combined wins in singles (29) and doubles (27) this season are the most in a single season in school history by a Gamecock freshman.
South Carolina’s No. 5 ranking on April 3 by Oracle and the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) was the highest team ranking in program history.
The Gamecocks received mutliple first-team All-SEC selections for the first time in program history in Hadley Berg and Ingrid Gamarra Martins.
South Carolina’s win over No. 11 Texas at the ITA Indoor National Championships marked the first win at the event in program history.
The team’s trip to the ITA Indoor National Championships marked the first in the event’s current format, which began in 2009.
The Gamecocks’ No. 10 seed in this season’s NCAA Tournament marked the highest in the event’s current 64-team format.
UP NEXT FOR THE GAMECOCKS

The Gamecocks will wrap the season with the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships, which take place after the team tournament from May 23-28 at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex in Winston-Salem, N.C. No. 34 Hadley Berg received an at-large bid, while No. 59 Ingrid Gamarra Martins was named the fourth alternate to the Singles Championship.

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