Women's Tennis . February 10, 2021

South Carolina Suffers 5-2 Loss to Furman

Gamecocks Begin SEC Play Next Week

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The 18th-ranked South Carolina women’s tennis team suffered a 5-2 setback to Furman on Wednesday at the Carolina Tennis Center in Columbia, S.C.

The Gamecocks dropped to 3-4 on the season with the loss, while Furman evened its record at 4-4 in 2021.

Doubles Recap

The Gamecocks won a tightly contested doubles point, pulling through on courts one and three to grab the lead heading to singles. At one, the Gamecocks’ No. 29-ranked duo of Mia Horvit and Megan Davies fell behind 2-1 early to No. 27 Julia Adams and Katarina Kozarov. From there, the match turned completely to South Carolina’s favor, as Horvit and Davies raced through the next five games to win 6-2.

South Carolina’s Emma Shelton and Gabriela Martinez fought back from a 4-2 deficit to earn the victory on court three over Ilayda Baykan and Ellie Schoppe. After getting the match to 4-all, Baykan and Schoppe snatched a 5-4 advantage with a chance to serve out the match. Shelton and Martinez dug deep and managed a break of serve and then held to make it 6-5 heading to the changeover. From there, they had the 0-40 lead on Furman’s serve and went on to close out the contest after the Paladins saved two match points.

The final match on court two between Allie Gretkowski and Ana Cruz for the Gamecocks and Furman’s Madison Dillon and MaryAnn Rompf end up going to a tiebreak. Beforehand, Cruz and Gretkowski trailed 5-4 before taking a 6-5 lead and then Furman pushed it the distance after winning the 12th game. In the tiebreak, Rompf and Dillon had a 4-2 lead at the changeover and went on to take the match by a 7-3 margin.

Singles Recap

The Gamecocks had their hands full in singles with Furman taking the first sets on four of the courts. The Paladins ended up answering back quickly with Ellie Schoppe picking up the 6-2, 6-3 victory from Ana Cruz on court six. South Carolina responded with No. 93 Emma Shelton holding off Madison Dillon at the third position 6-2, 6-4. Minutes later, Julia Adams downed No. 30 Megan Davies 6-0, 6-3 to set the score at 2-all with courts one, four and five playing to decide the outcome.

At one, No. 34 Mia Horvit lost the first set to No. 15 Katarina Kozarov in a tiebreak 9-7, but she ended up claiming the second 6-1 to force a third. At four, Allie Gretkowski dropped the first set to MaryAnn Rompf 6-2 but she recovered to take the second 6-2 to send the match to a third set. Elise Mills won the first set on court five 6-2 over Maggie Pate and then lost the second 6-2 to also find herself in a third set.

Both Gretkowski and Mills faced steep holes in their third sets at 4-1. Gretkowski was able to win one more game to make it 5-2, but Rompf held on for the 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 victory to put Furman ahead 3-2. At five, Mills managed to claw her way back and got the match back on serve with it tied 4-all and then got to 5-4 with a break and a chance to serve out the match. Both players, though, broke serves back and forth to force a tiebreak, and it was Rompf who outlasted Mills to win the match 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(3).

Having secured the team win, all that remained was the match at No. 1 between Horvit and Kozarov. Kozarov took a commanding 4-1 lead, but Horvit continued to fight and closed the gap to 4-3. Kozarov regained her composure and went on to hold off Horvit for a 7-6(7), 1-6, 6-4 triumph to give Furman five victories in singles play.

Notes

South Carolina saw its 35-match unbeaten streak against Furman come to an end. The Gamecocks’ streak began March 30, 1977, and ran to Jan. 15, 2017. South Carolina is 35-7 all-time against the Paladins.
The Gamecocks’ duo of Megan Davies and Mia Horvit, who are ranked No. 29, registered the best ranked doubles win for the Gamecocks this season in beating No. 27 Julia Adams and Katarina Kozarov.
Sophomore Emma Shelton managed to snap a three-match skid with her straight set win at No. 3 singles over Madison Dillon.
Emma Shelton and Gabriela Martinez teamed up in doubles for the first time in their careers and picked up a win at the No. 3 spot to clinch the doubles point for the Gamecocks.
South Carolina is the second top-20 team the Paladins have beaten in a row, as they downed then-No. 16 Wake Forest on Sunday in Greenville.