No. 4 Carolina Downs No. 23 LSU, 4-0; Wins Fourth-Straight

BATON ROUGE, La. – South Carolina junior Silvia Chinellato clinched her second match of the weekend, winning the overall match for the Gamecocks, 4-0, against LSU on Sunday afternoon at the LSU Tennis Complex.
 
With her team up, 3-0, Chinellato was fighting back from a second-set deficit against Kennan Johnson. The Gamecock took the first set, 6-4, on court five. In the second set, Chinellato fell behind Johnson, 4-1. She then won three-straight games, tying it, 4-4. Building off of that, Chinellato brought her streak to five games in-a-row, ultimately winning her match, 6-4, 6-4, and clinching the overall competition for South Carolina, 4-0.
 
After their second-consecutive 4-0 victory, the No. 4-ranked Gamecocks are now at 9-1 in SEC matches and 14-3 overall. The No. 23 Tigers drop to 4-6 in conference play and sit at 14-8 on the season.
 
“This was a great road weekend for us,” said head coach Kevin Epley. “To go 4-0 on away weekends in the SEC is a real testament to the heart of this team. Right now, we are turning our attention to next weekend. We are very excited to honor our three seniors in our last regular-season home match.”
 
Starting off the match on a high note, Carolina won the doubles point with wins at the No. 2 and 3 positions. Finishing first, Rachel Rohrabacher and Paige Cline cruised to a, 6-2, victory over Anna Loughlan and Paris Conley on court two.
 
At the No. 3 spot, Megan Davies and Kennedy Wicker battled with Johnson and Taylor Bridges. Going back-and-forth at the beginning of the match, the Gamecocks held a, 5-4, lead. Davies and Wicker played tough in the final game and won the match, 6-4.
 
Getting off the court quickly in singles, No. 7-ranked Ingrid Martins rolled through No. 10 Eden Richardson at the No. 1 position, 6-2, 6-1.
 
Bringing South Carolina’s advantage to 3-0, No. 118 Mia Horvit defeated Bridges on court three in identical sets, 6-2, 6-2.

With the Gamecocks looking for a clinch, Chinellato just beat Wicker, who was up, 6-4, 5-2, to the punch.
 
Up next, Carolina hosts its final two home matches of the regular season. The Gamecocks face off against Auburn at 5 p.m. ET on Friday, April 5. Sunday’s 1 p.m. ET match against Alabama will also serve as Senior Day for the three seniors on the South Carolina roster.
 
Continue to check back with gamecocksonline.com for more updates or follow the team on social media (@GamecockWTennis).