No. 10 Carolina Blanks Ole Miss, 4-0
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina sophomore Megan Davies won both of her matches, including the clinching singles win in Carolina’s, 4-0, defeat of Ole Miss on Sunday morning at the Carolina Tennis Center.
With the victory, the Gamecocks move to 7-2 overall and are undefeated in SEC competition, 2-0. The Rebels are now 3-5 overall and 0-2 in the SEC.
“It’s great to come out of the first SEC weekend of the season 2-0 against two very tough teams,” head coach Kevin Epley said. “Mississippi State and Ole Miss fought hard and we were fortunate enough to step up in the right situations (Sunday).
“We’re really proud of Kennedy (Wicker) in particular. Coming out here and getting these wins all weekend long in doubles and singles. It was a big weekend for her and she helped lead the team mentally as well. It was a good win and we’re happy with this weekend.”
Kicking things off for Carolina in doubles, Davies and Kennedy Wicker claimed a, 6-1, victory over Alexa Bortles and Cameron Kriscunas on court three with ease.
At the No. 1 spot, No. 2-ranked Ingrid Gamarra Martins and Mia Horvit played a similar match to Saturday’s competition against Mississippi State. The duo went down, 2-0, early to No. 59 Tea Jandric and Sabina Machalova, but took the next six games for a, 6-2, win. With the defeat, the Gamecocks took the doubles point, going up, 1-0, against the Rebels.
Carolina extended its lead, 3-0, with Wicker and No. 10 Gamarra Martins finishing almost simultaneously in singles. Winning first, Wicker allowed Allie Sanford just one game in their two sets, defeating the Rebel, 6-1, 6-0, at the No. 6 position.
A few seconds later, Gamarra Martins took down No. 125 Machalova on court one in identical sets, 6-3, 6-3, extending her winning streak to five matches.
With the possibility to clinch at either the No. 3 or 4 spots, Davies beat Horvit to the punch, clinching the match, 4-0, for the Gamecocks. Davies and Bortles went back-and-forth in their first set, knotting at 3-3. Davies then won three-consecutive games, claiming her first set, 6-3. In the second set, Davies kept control, eventually winning her match, 6-3, 6-3, on court four.
Next, the Gamecocks hit the road for two conference matches. First, they are at Missouri on Friday, March 8 at 6 p.m ET and close out the weekend at Arkansas on Sunday, March 10 at 1 p.m. ET.
Continue to check back with gamecocksonline.com for more updates or follow the team on social media (@GamecockWTennis).
