Women's Tennis . March 12, 2021

Gamecocks Make Short Work of No. 20 Arkansas in 4-0 Win

South Carolina Eyes Weekend Sweep With Missouri on Tap Sunday

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The No. 39 South Carolina women’s tennis team blanked No. 20 Arkansas 4-0 on Friday evening at Carolina Tennis Center in Columbia, S.C.

The Gamecocks improved to 5-9 and 2-5 in the SEC with the win, while the Razorbacks dropped to 10-2 and 4-2 in league matches.

Doubles Recap

The Gamecocks started strong in doubles with No. 20 Silvia Chinellato and Emma Shelton sprinting to a 5-0 lead on court two versus Morgan Cross and Indianna Spink. As they changed sides, Allie Gretkowski and Ana Cruz surged ahead on court three with a 4-2 advantage over Kelly Keller and Laura Rijkers. Gretkowski and Cruz then picked up another break of serve to lead 5-2 and put South Carolina within a game of clinching doubles at courts two and three.

The Razorbacks managed a hold of serve on court No. 2 to stay alive, but in the next game Shelton served out the match to give the duo a 6-1 victory. A few minutes later, Cruz held serve to secure the doubles point for the Gamecocks with a 6-2 triumph at the third doubles position.

At No. 1 doubles, the Gamecocks’ 29th-ranked duo of Mia Horvit and Megan Davies had a 3-2 advantage on No. 28 Lauren Alter and Tatum Rice when play was suspended.

Singles Recap

South Carolina got off to hot starts on Nos. 2-5 singles with 4-1 leads on all four courts, while the Razorbacks held 3-2 leads on courts one and six after the first five games. The Gamecocks went on to take the first sets on courts three, four and five all by 6-1 margins for a commanding upper hand in the match.

Allie Gretkowski wasted no time finishing off her match at No. 5 singles against Laura Rijkers. After winning the first set 6-1, she went on to take the second set 6-2 to give South Carolina a 2-0 lead.

It became clear that it would be a race to see who finished second and third between Silvia Chinellato on court three and No. 93 Emma Shelton on court four. Both had 5-3 leads in the second set, and Chinellato ended up finishing just ahead of Shelton with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Tatum Rice. Shelton had her serve broken up 5-3, but she answered back with a break on Morgan Cross to win 6-1, 6-4 to secure South Carolina’s best ranked win of the season.

The matches on courts one, two and six were suspended with the team outcome in hand. At one, No. 34 Mia Horvit was up a set but trailed 4-1 in the second to Indianna Spink. No. 30 Megan Davies lost the first set to Kelly Keller of Arkansas, however, she had a 3-0 advantage in the second set at two, and on court six, Ana Cruz registered a 7-6(6) win in the first set over Lauren Alter and she was up 1-0 in the second.

Notes

Ana Cruz and Allie Gretkowski remained perfect on the season at No. 3 doubles, moving their record to 6-0 at the position.
The Gamecocks have now won the doubles point nine times in 14 matches this season.
South Carolina is now 27-8 all-time against Arkansas and 13-3 versus the Razorbacks in Columbia.
Arkansas is the highest ranked team the Gamecocks have beaten this season at No. 20.
The match took less than two hours to complete, clocking in at 1:48.