No. 16 Lady Vols Fall to No. 7 South Carolina, 4-1

Friday, March 15

Columbia, S.C.

10:00 AM

University of Tennessee

South Carolina

KNOXVILLE, TN - 2019.02.17 - Tennessee vs. University of South Florida

March 15, 2019 | Women's Tennis

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The 16^th-ranked Tennessee women's tennis team fell on the road to seventh-ranked South Carolina Friday afternoon, 4-1.

The Lady Vols (12-4, 2-2 SEC) dropped their second conference match of the season, both of which have been to top 10 teams. The match against the Gamecocks was moved up from its original 5 p.m. start to 10 a.m. due to incoming inclement weather to the Columbia area.

"Today, South Carolina was better than us," head coach Alison Ojeda said. "They came out and never let up. They are the best team we've played this season and they earned the win.

"With that said, we are very disappointed. There's a lot we'll learn from today. Our girls are still getting better every time we step on the court, and I'm proud of them for that. We hope we get to play South Carolina again at the SEC Tournament."

South Carolina (10-2, 5-0) took the doubles point with wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 spots.

Eighth-ranked Sadie Hammond and Kaitlin Staines dropped their first doubles match of the season, falling to seventh-ranked Mia Horvit and Ingrid Martins, 6-4. Rebeka Mertena and Johanna Silva fell to Paige Cline and Silvia Chinellato on Court 3, 6-1.

The Gamecocks took three of the four singles matches that finished to close out the match.

Freshman Rebeka Mertena grabbed a win for Tennessee on Court 4, defeating Megan Davies at the No. 4 spot, 6-4, 6-1. The freshman has now won eight singles matches in a row and is 12-2 in dual matches this spring.

Hammond, the No. 65 singles player in the nation, fell to ninth-ranked Martins in two sets, 6-2, 6-2. Tennessee also fell in two sets on Court 6, as Haumuller fell to Kennedy Wicker on Court 6, 6-1, 6-0.

Horvit clinched the match for South Carolina at the No. 3 spot, defeating Silva, 6-3, 6-4.

UP NEXT: Tennessee heads south to the Sunshine State for a matchup with the No. 34 Florida Gators on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. Next week, the Lady Vols take on Mississippi State and Ole Miss at home.

RESULTS
No. 7 South Carolina 4, No. 16 Tennessee 1

Singles
1. #9 Ingrid Martins (USC) def. #65 Sadie Hammond (UT), 6-2, 6-2
2. #49 Paige Cline (USC) vs. Kaitlin Staines (UT), 6-3, 5-5, unfinished
3. #99 Mia Horvit (USC) def. Johanna Silva (UT), 6-3, 6-4
4. Rebeka Mertena (UT) def. Megan Davies (USC), 6-4, 6-2
5. Tenika McGiffin (UT) vs. Silvia Chinellato (USC), 6-3, 4-4, unfinished
6. Kennedy WIcker (USC) def. Maia Haumuller (UT), 6-1, 6-0

Doubles
1. #7 Horvit/Martins (USC) def. #8 Hammond/Staines (UT), 6-4
2. Cline/Chinellato (USC) vs. Haumuller/McGiffin (UT), 5-5, unfinished
3. Davies/Wicker (USC) def. Mertena/Silva (UT), 6-1

Order of finish: Doubles (3, 1); Singles (1, 6, 4, 3)