The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
South Carolina
No. 14 South Carolina edges No. 22 Women's Tennis, 4-3 in NCAA Championships second round
05.13.2017 | Women's Tennis
Bianca Turati opens singles play at the NCAA Championships later this month.
COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 22 Texas (14-9) collected singles wins from freshmen Bianca Turati, Petra Granic and Anna Turati, but host No. 14 South Carolina (20-8) held on for a 4-3 win over the Longhorns Saturday in the second round of the NCAA Championships. The Longhorns' season comes to an end while South Carolina advances to next week's round of 16 in Athens, Georgia.
Texas and South Carolina engaged in a hard-fought doubles session where the Gamecocks prevailed and assumed a 1-0 lead. The Horns struck first at first doubles where senior Neda Koprcina teamed up with freshman Anna Turati to post a 6-1 win over USC's 25th-ranked tandem of Hadley Berg and Paige Cline. South Carolina's Brigit Folland and Ingrid Gamarra Martins responded with a 6-3 win over Petra Granic and Daniella Roldan at second doubles.
UT's Bianca Turati and Dani Wagland broke for a 5-3 lead over South Carolina's Caroline Dailey and Rachel Rohrabacher at third doubles, but USC broke back and held serve for 5-all. UT's Wagland held serve for 6-5, but South Carolina followed suit to force a tiebreaker. At 4-all, South Carolina ran off three consecutive points to win the tiebreaker and give the Gamecocks the doubles point.
South Carolina extended its lead to 2-0 behind a straight-sets win from Folland over UT's Wagland at sixth singles. Bianca Turati served up a convincing straight-sets win at first singles and defeated USC's 49th-ranked Martins, 6-1, 6-2 to trim the Gamecocks' lead to 2-1.
South Carolina reclaimed a two-point lead at fifth singles where Berg held off UT's Roldan, 6-3, 7-5. Texas trimmed the USC lead to 3-2 behind Granic's 6-0, 2-6, 6-2 win over Berg at third singles. Anna Turati evened the match by way of her 7-5, 6-3 win at fourth singles to leave the deciding point at second singles. Turati fell behind 3-1 in the second set before holding serve the rest of the way and producing two service breaks to finish off her win.
Texas senior Neda Koprcina dropped the first set to South Carolina's 47th-ranked Mia Horvit at second singles, 6-1, but Koprcina stayed in the match with a 6-3 second-set win. Horvit broke Koprcina for a 2-1 third-set lead and extended the lead to 5-1. Koprcina held serve to pull within 5-2, and though she saved three match points in the next game, Horvit managed to hold serve and finish off the set, 6-2 to give South Carolina the 4-3 win.
POST-MATCH COMMENTS
Texas head coach Howard Joffe
Naturally, there is a wide variety of emotions when the season comes to an end. With respect to the loss today, our ladies are understandably disappointed. We played well and in the face of a vast array of handicapping factors, our six scholarship players came awfully close today. With respect to the future, one can't help but notice that our three points today were the product of wins by each of our freshmen. Bianca, Petra and Anna were fabulous. Lastly, the career of Neda Koprcina comes to an end today. Her teammates as well as coach (Courtney) Dolehide and myself couldn't be more appreciative and in awe of what a classy and tough Longhorn Neda has been. Her toughness will be sorely missed.
NCAA Championships Second Round (Round of 32)
No. 14 South Carolina 4, No. 22 Texas 3
Doubles – Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
1 Neda Koprcina/Anna Turati (UT) def. No. 25 Hadley Berg/Paige Cline (USC), 6-1
2 Brigit Folland/Ingrid Gamarra Martins (USC) def. Petra Granic/Daniella Roldan (UT), 6-3
3 Caroline Dailey/Rachel Rohrabacher (USC) def. Bianca Turati/Dani Wagland (UT), 7-6 (4)
Singles – Order of Finish: 6, 1, 5, 3, 4, 2
1 No. 41 Bianca Turati (UT) def. No. 49 Ingrid Gamarra Martins (USC), 6-1, 6-2
2 No. 47 Mia Horvit (USC) def. No. 72 Neda Koprcina (UT), 6-1, 3-6, 6-2
3 No. 83 Petra Granic (UT) def. Caroline Dailey (USC), 6-0, 2-6, 6-2
4 Anna Turati (UT) def. Silvia Chinellato (USC), 7-5, 6-3
5 Hadley Berg (USC) def. Daniella Roldan (UT), 6-3, 7-5
6 Brigit Folland (USC) def. Dani Wagland (UT), 6-0, 6-2
Players Mentioned
