Women's Tennis . February 21, 2021

Gamecocks Pick Up 4-2 Win at Alabama

Megan Davies Clinches at No. 2 Singles

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The 20th-ranked South Carolina women’s tennis team held on for a 4-2 victory over Alabama on Sunday at the Alabama Tennis Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

The Gamecocks improved to 4-5 on the season and 1-1 in the SEC, while the Crimson Tide dropped to 9-3 and 0-2 in league play.

Doubles Recap

The Gamecocks won the doubles point with ease, marking their third consecutive match taking the point. South Carolina began with 2-0 leads on all three courts, and it was Carolina’s No. 29-ranked duo of Megan Davies and Mia Horvit who finished first by a 6-1 score over Moka Ito and Sydney Riley on court one.

About five minutes later, South Carolina had the 1-0 lead heading to singles play thanks to Allie Gretkowski and Ana Cruz on court three. The duo took down Anna Parkomenko and Anne Marie Hiser 6-1 to improve to 4-0 this spring at No. 3 doubles.

Play on court two was suspended once the point was decided. No. 20-ranked Emma Shelton and Silvia Chinellato from South Carolina led Sasha Gorchanyuk and Alba Cortina Pou 4-3.

Singles Recap

Allie Gretkowski pushed the Gamecocks’ lead to 2-0 with a straight set victory over Anne Marie Hiser on court five 6-4, 6-3 to pick up her first career SEC singles win. The Gamecocks and Crimson Tide were in fierce battles on the other five courts when Gretkowski got the win, especially on courts four and six where Silvia Chinellato and Gabriela Martinez lost their first sets and were fighting to stay alive in the second.

Chinellato dropped her first set on four to Alba Cortina Pou 6-0 and was down 5-1 in the second, but she hung in and crawled her way back into the match and closed the deficit to 5-4. Martinez refused to go quietly at six after losing the first set to Sydney Riley 6-2 and was down 5-3 in the second looking to get to 5-4 like Chinellato. The Crimson Tide, though, were too much in the end for both Gamecocks, as the matches finished almost simultaneously with Cortina Pou winning 6-0, 6-4 and Riley holding on for a 6-2, 6-3 victory to knot up the team score at 2-all.

The remaining matches at the top of the lineup saw No. 34 Mia Horvit in a third set with Moka Ito at one, No. 30 Megan Davies up a set but down in the second to Sasha Gorchanyuk at two, and No. 93 Emma Shelton down a set on three to Anna Parkhomenko.

After Horvit faltered 6-3 to Ito in the first set, she coasted through the second to a 6-2 win. In the third, Ito got the 1-0 lead to begin, but it was all Horvit from there, as she won six of the next seven games to close out a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 triumph and pulled South Carolina within a point of clinching the match.

As Horvit finished her contest, Davies and Gorchanyuk were just beginning a tiebreak for the second set after Davies won the first set 6-2. Shelton, meanwhile, managed to take the second set from Parkhomenko to force a third.

In the tiebreak, Davies trailed 4-3 with the serve and after holding both times to regain the lead, she rifled a backhand winner down the line on the ensuing point as Gorchanyuk came to the net to set up double match point. An unforced error from Gorchanyuk on the next rally handed Davies the 6-2, 7-6(4) win and the Gamecocks their first SEC win of 2021.

The lone match still on court at three saw Parkhomenko leading Shelton 1-0 in the third, but play was stopped once the team result was determined.

Notes

The Gamecocks have now beaten Alabama six times in a row, its longest unbeaten streak in the series with the Crimson Tide. South Carolina leads the series 20-12 and is 10-5 all-time in Tuscaloosa.
South Carolina has won the doubles point six times in nine matches this season.
Ana Cruz and Allie Gretkowski improved to 4-0 together this spring at No. 3 doubles.
Freshman Allie Gretkowski recorded her first career SEC singles victory.
Mia Horvit is off to a 2-0 start in SEC singles play at the No. 1 position.
Mia Horvit now has 92 career singles victories and is tied with Brigit Folland for eighth place on the Gamecocks’ all-time singles wins list.