Virginia Falls 4-1 To No. 21 South Carolina
Feb. 5, 2017
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia women’s tennis team (2-3, 2-0 ACC) split its matches on the weekend, closing things out with a 4-1 loss to No. 21 South Carolina (5-1) on Sunday (Feb. 5) at the Boar’s Head Sports Club.
Virginia got its point with a win on court one in singles by junior Cassie Mercer (Huntington, W.V.) after South Carolina’s Ingrid Martins retired due to injury. Mercer led the match 5-3 in the first set over the nation’s 16th-ranked player.
The Cavaliers dropped the doubles point, despite playing two tight matches on courts one and two. South Carolina’s duo of Silvia Chinellato and Brigit Folland defeated Hunter Bleser (New Braunfels, Texas) and Camille Favero (Sacramento, Calif.) by a score of 6-1. The Gamecocks then clinched with a 6-4 win on court two as Rosie Johanson (Abbotsford, British Columbia) and Meghan Kelley (Falmouth, Maine) fell to Caroline Dailey and Mia Horvit.
Virginia tied the match at 1-1 overall when Mercer picked up the win after Martins retired, but the Gamecocks grabbed singles wins on courts two, five and six to clinch the match.
The second point came for South Carolina on court six as No. 122 Folland defeated Favero 6-2, 61. It was followed by a win on court five as Hadley Berg defeated Bleser 7-6 (8), 6-1. South Carolina clinched the match on court two as No. 62 Horvit defeated No. 79 Johanson 6-2, 7-6 (4) in the second-set tiebreak.
Kelley led her match 7-5, 5-3 on court three when the match was ended, while Gullickson was in a second-set tiebreak on court four after dropping her first set 6-1 to No. 100 Chinellato.
Virginia will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 18, when the Cavaliers travel to Norfolk, Va. to play a doubleheader. Virginia will open the day in a neutral-site match against Penn at 10:30 a.m. before facing Old Dominion at 5 p.m.
Virginia, No. 21 South Carolina
Singles
Cassie Mercer def. No. 16 Ingrid Martins, 5-3 (ret.)
No. 62 Mia Horvit def. No. 79 Rosie Johanson, 6-2, 7-6 (4)
No. 124 Meghan Kelley vs. No. 72 Paige Cline, 7-5, 5-3 (unfinished)
No. 100 Silvia Chinellato vs. Chloe Gullickson, 6-1, 6-6 (unfinished)
Hadley Berg def. Hunter Bleser, 7-6 (6), 6-1
No. 122 Brigit Folland def. Camille Favero, 6-2, 6-1
Order of Finish: 1, 6, 5, 2
Doubles
No. 39 Berg/Cline led Gullickson/Mercer, 6-5 (unfinished)
Dailey/Horvit def. Johanson/Kelley, 6-4
Chinellato/Folland def. Bleser/Favero, 6-1
Order of Finish: 3, 2