No. 3 South Carolina Defeats No. 49 Auburn, 4-0

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina senior Ingrid Martins clinched the win for Carolina, 4-0, against Auburn in the first match of Senior Weekend at the Carolina Tennis Center on Thursday night.
 
With the No. 3 Gamecocks (15-3, 10-1 SEC) holding a, 3-0, lead over No. 49 Auburn (13-12, 0-10 SEC), No. 5-ranked Martins was looking for the clinch on court one. In her first set, Martins was up, 2-0, before No. 103 Jaeda Daniel came back to tie it, 2-2. Martins never looked back, claiming four-straight games for a, 6-2, victory. Martins controlled the second set, ultimately winning her match in identical sets, 6-2, 6-2, and ending the competition, 4-0, in favor of the Gamecocks.
 
“Overall it was pretty good,” head coach Kevin Epley said. “It was good to see Rachel (Rohrabacher) out there competing again on Senior Weekend. We had some pretty one-sided contests on some of our courts. Court one and court two, they did what they’ve been doing all year.”
 
In doubles, the senior duo of Paige Cline and Rachel Rohrabacher stormed to a, 6-2, victory over Yu Chen and Daniel at the No. 2 spot.
 
Playing at the No. 3 position, sophomores Megan Davies and Kennedy Wicker were tied with Alannah Griffin and Caroline Turner, 3-3. Davies and Wicker then won three-consecutive games for a, 6-3, victory, claiming the doubles point for the Gamecocks.
 
Up, 1-0, after doubles, No. 27 Cline got off the court quickly after downing Taylor Russo on court two in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0.
 
At the No. 6 spot, Wicker blanked Lindsay Song, taking the first set, 6-0. In the second set, Wicker and Song were knotted at 2-2. Finishing out the set, Wicker won four games in-a-row, topping Song, 6-0, 6-2, and extending South Carolina’s advantage, 3-0.
 
Martins closed out the Tigers at the top spot with her, 6-2, 6-2, victory.
 
“I think we have a couple things to work on (Friday) to get ready for Alabama, but we took care of business (Thursday) so we’re pretty happy,” said Epley.
 
Up next, Carolina takes on No. 43 Alabama at 1 p.m. on Sunday. With weather moving through the Columbia area, check with the website and social media for all updates regarding match time.
 
Continue to check back with gamecocksonline.com for more updates or follow the team on social media (@GamecockWTennis).