Women's Tennis . April 12, 2021

Gamecocks Close Out Regular Season Hosting No. 13 Florida on Tuesday

South Carolina Looks to Extend Unbeaten Streak to Seven

Attention Fans

The Gamecocks will be following strict guidelines with adherence to the SEC Medical Guidance Task Force Requirements for COVID-19 Management. Attendance at South Carolina women’s tennis matches this spring is restricted to PASS LIST ONLY for home matches at Carolina Tennis Center. We encourage fans to follow the matches via our live scoring and live video links as well as our social media platforms.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The No. 24 South Carolina women’s tennis team will close out the regular season at home hosting No. 13 Florida on Tuesday at noon at the Carolina Tennis Center.

The Gamecocks bring a 10-9 overall record into the match and are 7-5 in league play after winning six matches in a row. The Gators have also won their last six and stand 11-6 overall and 9-3 in the SEC.

Last Time Out

South Carolina won its sixth match in a row by defeating then-No. 21 Kentucky on April 3 by a 4-2 final.

The Gamecocks won the doubles point in dramatic fashion, needing 55 minutes to decide the outcome. They got off to a hot start thanks to Silvia Chinellato and Emma Shelton at the No. 2 position. After they lost the first game to Carla Girbau and Elizabeth Stevens, head coach Kevin Epley gave them a quick pep talk and it translated into an aggressive 6-2 victory.

Courts one and three did not look good for South Carolina after taking court two, as the Gamecocks trailed 5-3 on both. Each duo, though, remained composed and almost simultaneously stayed alive by cutting the margins to 5-4. In no time, both matches were tied at 5-all and eventually headed to a pair of tiebreaks.

At one, No. 16 Mia Horvit and Megan Davies raced out to a 5-2 lead on No. 8 Fiona Arrese and Akvile Parazinskaite in the tiebreak. Meanwhile, on court three, Ana Cruz and Allie Gretkowski grabbed a 4-2 advantage on Lesedi Jacobs and Anastasia Tkachenko. As Arrese and Parazinskaite charged back and won four straight points for a match point opportunity, the left-handed Cruz finished off the contest at three with an ace down the T to pick up the 7-5 win in the tiebreak.

There were no easy matches to be had in the singles portion of the competition. The Gamecocks did manage to take the first sets on four of the six courts, but the Wildcats would not go away easily at any of the positions.

Chinellato gave the Gamecocks what ended up being their only straight-set victory on the day at the No. 4 position. She fought her way to a 6-4, 6-4 triumph against Girbau to give South Carolina a 2-0 lead and finish the weekend with an unbeaten record.

The Wildcats got themselves on the board not long after Chinellato picked up the win on court four courtesy of Arrese at the No. 5 slot. She defeated Gretkowski 6-4, 7-5 to cut the deficit in half. Later, No. 47 Parazinskaite came back from a 6-2 first-set loss to No. 39 Horvit at the top singles spot to pick up a 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 triumph to even the match at 2-all.

Courts two, three and six all ended up going the distance to set up the exciting finish. At two, No. 46 Davies took the first set from Carlota Molina 6-3 and then lost the second 6-2. In the third, she bounced back and was a brick wall against the heavy shots Molina continued to unload. Davies’ persistence paid off, as she wore down her opponent to take the third set 6-3 and put the Gamecocks ahead 3-2.

South Carolina had total control over the final two matches on court and it was a race to the finish line. Shelton, ranked No. 108, ended up getting there just ahead of Cruz, as she took out No. 71 Jacobs 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-0 on court three to secure the win for the Gamecocks. It marked the second-highest ranked win of Shelton’s career and extended the sophomore’s winning streak to five matches.

At six, Cruz lost the first set to Maialen Morante 7-5 but recovered to take the second 6-1 and had a 5-0 lead in the third when play was suspended.

Gamecock Notables

Emma Shelton was named SEC Newcomer of the Week following the Gamecocks’ wins over Vanderbilt and Kentucky. She posted a perfect 4-0 record between singles and doubles to help South Carolina extend its winning streak to six matches.
Megan Davies earned the first SEC Player of the Week honor of her career when she took home the award March 31. She helped the Gamecocks pull two road upsets over Mississippi State and Ole Miss with a pair of wins against top-40 players.
The Gamecocks will finish with a winning record in the SEC for the fifth season in a row, the longest streak in program history.
In defeating No. 19 Emma Antonaki of Mississippi State, Megan Davies registered the highest ranked win of her career.
The ITA’s latest set of individual rankings revealed a big push in singles with Mia Horvit jumping from 85th to 39th, Megan Davies checking in at No. 46 after being unranked the previous week, and Emma Shelton re-entering the rankings as well at No. 108. Horvit and Davies are ranked No. 16 as a doubles team as well.
South Carolina has shown strength in doubles play this season, winning the doubles point 13 times in 19 matches. Overall, the Gamecocks have a 30-16 record in doubles matches this spring, and they have won the doubles point 10 times in their past 13 matches.
Emma Shelton posted her first win against a ranked opponent this spring by upending No. 80 Tereza Janatova of Ole Miss in straight sets. She also posted a ranked win against Kentucky in beating No. 71 Lesedi Jacobs.
Emma Shelton leads the team in singles wins this season with 11. Five Gamecocks all have 12 wins in doubles individually, and the duos of Megan Davies/Mia Horvit and Ana Cruz/Allie Gretkowski each have 10 wins to lead the team.
Freshman Lindsay Tulenko made her collegiate debut in a dual match at Georgia on March 7 playing the No. 6 singles position. It was special for Tulenko not only because it was her first career start but also because her hometown of Bogart, Ga., is just outside of Athens.
Megan Davies hit the 75-win plateau in both singles and doubles with victories against LSU. She is the 25th player in school history to achieve 75 singles wins and just the 11th to hit 75 in doubles. Davies is also the 10th Gamecock to hit the mark for both singles and doubles, and she ranks 12th all-time for combined victories with 156.
Freshman Allie Gretkowski posted the first SEC singles win of her career by defeating Anne Marie Hiser from Alabama on Feb. 21. Earlier in the year, she earned her first career win against a ranked player versus Georgia Tech by downing No. 123 Gia Cohen in straight sets.
Allie Gretkowski and Ana Cruz have been a formidable duo for the Gamecocks this season, going 10-0 at No. 3 doubles. As a team, the Gamecocks have lost just twice at No. 3 doubles with a 14-2 record.
When Megan Davies and Mia Horvit checked in at No. 15 nationally in doubles for the March 24 rankings it was the top mark of Davies’ career.
Prior to South Carolina’s loss at Auburn this season, the Gamecocks had won 16 consecutive regular-season SEC road matches dating back to the 2017 campaign. Previously, the Gamecocks’ last loss on the road was against Vanderbilt on April 14, 2017.
South Carolina has an impressive SEC record since the 2018 season with a 32-8 mark in regular-season matches.
Mia Horvit is closing in on history this spring, looking to join the 100-win club in singles. She currently owns a 96-43 record in singles that ranks tied for sixth in school history with Natasa Vuckovic (2005-09). Next on the list in fifth place is Carolina Culik with 98. Only three Gamecocks have reached 100 victories with Rita Winebarger (1984-88) leading the way at 127 followed by Ana Marija Zubori (2006-10) with 109 and Lynn-Yin Tan (1998-02) at 103.
Mia Horvit’s current career win total of 172 matches between singles and doubles ranks ninth in school history. Next on the list are Natasa Vuckovic (2005-09) and Brigit Folland (2013-17) who are tied for seventh with 173.
Head coach Kevin Epley is in his ninth season with the Gamecocks and is closing in on his 300th career win. Epley currently has a 297-134 mark in 17 seasons as a head coach at three schools. Epley has amassed a 146-75 record as South Carolina’s head coach and boasts an impressive 69-38 record in regular-season SEC play. He led the Gamecocks to their first SEC title in 2019 when South Carolina captured the SEC Tournament after finishing the regular season with a 12-1 record.
Mia Horvit has more wins in NCAA Tournament play than any Gamecock in school history. Between the team and individual tournaments, Horvit owns an impressive 17-3 record.
Since the SEC began crowning a regular-season and tournament champion in 2000, only four teams have won the SEC Tournament. South Carolina became the fourth in 2019, joining Florida, Georgia and Vanderbilt as the only teams to win the event.
South Carolina has won 20 or more matches each of the past three full seasons, a first in school history. In total, the Gamecocks won 64 matches from 2017 to 2019.
Consistency is the name of the game, and South Carolina has certainly been one of the most consistent programs in the country for decades. Currently, the Gamecocks have made the NCAA Tournament 25 seasons in a row. Overall, South Carolina has competed in 29 of the 38 all-time NCAA Tournaments, advancing to the quarterfinals three times (1982, 2009, 2019) and the round of 16 nine times (1982, 1983, 1990, 1995, 1999, 2009, 2017, 2018, 2019). Carolina has also finished the season ranked among the top-25 a total of 25 times.

About Florida

Like the Gamecocks, Florida got off to a slow start this season with a 5-6 mark after its first 11 matches. Since then, the Gators have mirrored the Gamecocks in winning six matches in a row and all against the same opponents since South Carolina and Florida are travel partners. In addition to the same seven teams in the SEC the Gamecocks have beaten, Florida also owns a pair of 4-2 victories against LSU and Texas A&M. As a program, Florida has won seven NCAA titles to go along with 29 SEC championships and 20 SEC Tournament championships. The Gators have three players ranked in singles with McCartney Kessler leading the way at No. 7 followed by Marlee Zein at No. 36 and Sara Dahlstrom at No. 111. Kessler and Zein also combine to form the nation’s No. 2-rated doubles team. Florida is led by head coach Roland Thornqvist, who is now in his 20th season with the Gators and has won four national championships, the most recent coming in 2017.

The Florida Series

Overall: Florida leads 45-4
Home: 0-18
Away: 1-20
Conference: 1-27
Last 10: 2-8
Current Win Streak: 2, South Carolina
Last Result: South Carolina 4-3 win in College Station, Texas, on April 19, 2019
Longest Win Streak: 2, 2019-present
Longest Losing Streak: 41, 1983-2018

>> Full Florida Series Results