No. 15 South Carolina Upsets No. 9 Oklahoma State, 4-1
SEATTLE, Wash. – South Carolina junior Mia Horvit fought back for a three-set win, claiming the match for the Gamecocks, 4-1, against Oklahoma State on Sunday night at the Nordstrom Tennis Center in the consolation bracket of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Team Indoor Championship.
With the victory, the No. 15 Gamecocks are now 5-2 overall, while the No. 9-ranked Cowgirls move to 4-5 on the season.
Kicking things into high gear, Carolina catapulted to a, 1-0, lead by winning the doubles point. No. 4-ranked Ingrid Gamarra Martins and Mia Horvit downed Katie Stresnakova and Catherine Gulihur, 6-2, on court one.
Moving up to the No. 2 spot, Silvia Chinellato and Paige Cline had no trouble taking the doubles point for the Gamecocks, defeating Marina Guinart and Lisa Marie Rioux, 6-3.
“We fought hard against a very tough team (Sunday),” head coach Kevin Epley said. “The match could have gone either way and luckily Mia stepped up and took the match for the team in the end. This was a good bit of redemption for her and goes to show that college tennis is match-by-match and different people can step up on different days. A lot of the girls played pretty well (Sunday) and it’s nice to leave Seattle on high note.”
On court four, Megan Davies was not able to top No. 66 Guinart, falling in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, and evening the score at 1-1.
No. 38-ranked Cline was no match for No. 120 Bunyawi Thamchaiwat, surging to a, 6-3, 6-1, victory over the Cowgirl at the No. 2 position and giving Carolina the, 2-1, advantage.
Stretching the lead to 3-1, No. 16 Gamarra Martins battled back from being down in the first set opposite of No. 22 Stresnakova. Gamarra Martins found herself trailing, 3-2, but gained momentum, taking three-consecutive games, going up, 5-3. She eventually claimed her first set, 6-4. In the second, Gamarra Martins took control, winning her match in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.
In her first set, No. 79 Horvit was not able to find her grove, dropping it, 6-2, against Rioux on court three. Horvit only fell behind once in her second set, in the opening game, winning it, 6-4, and sending her match to a third set. In the final set, Horvit and Rioux went back-and-forth-in the beginning and sat tied, 2-2. Horvit was able to get past the Cowgirl, coming out on top in three sets, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, and clinching the overall match for South Carolina, 4-1.
Up next, the Gamecocks take a weekend of before hosting Presbyterian and Coastal Carolina at 10 a.m., and 2 p.m., respectively, on Saturday, Feb. 23, at the Carolina Tennis Center.
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