The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
South Carolina (ITA National Team Indoor Championships)
No. 11 Women's Tennis falls to No. 19 South Carolina, 4-2 at ITA National Team Indoors
02.10.2018 | Women's Tennis
Longhorns take on Ole Miss in their tournament finale on Sunday.
MADISON, Wis. – Texas sophomores Bianca and Anna Turati notched straight-sets singles wins, but No. 19 South Carolina held off the 11th-ranked Longhorns by a 4-2 count Saturday at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
The Gamecocks claimed doubles matches at the second and third positions to earn an early 1-0 match lead. USC extended its lead to 2-0 by way of Silvia Chinellato's 6-2, 6-3 win over Bojana Markovic at fourth singles. South Carolina staked itself to a 3-0 cushion when Megan Davies defeated Fernanda Labraña at fifth singles, 6-3, 6-2.
The Turati twins put the Horns right back into the match with their wins at the first and second singles slots. Bianca Turati, who this week became the first Longhorn to take over the No. 1 national singles ranking in 23 years, held off USC's 118th-ranked Mia Horvit, 6-2, 6-4. Anna Turati cut the Longhorns' deficit to 3-2 with her 6-4, 6-1 win over the 38th-ranked Hadley Berg at second singles.
Once down 3-0, Texas had the opportunity to rally all the way to victory. UT sophomore Petra Granic saved match points and prolonged her match at third singles while junior Katie Poluta needed only one more set to close out a match win at sixth singles. South Carolina, however, halted the rally and closed out its team win.
The Gamecocks' Ingrid Gamarra Martins finally converted a match point against Granic and prevailed 6-4, 6-4 at third singles to clinch the match. Poluta's final set against USC's Rachel Rohrabacher was suspended, given that the match victor had been determined.
Texas will take on Ole Miss in its consolation bracket finale on Sunday (9 a.m. CT).
POST-MATCH COMMENTS
Texas head coach Howard Joffe
The field here in Madison is littered with elite teams, which we discovered rather quickly and unfortunately today. We definitely didn't perform very well, but the ladies didn't short-change each other on the effort. Bianca Turati played rather well as did Anna with their straight-sets wins. This continues to be a bright spot. The hope is that our group is able to regroup and perform well tomorrow for our last match in Madison.
ITA National Team Indoor Championships
Consolation Bracket
No. 19 South Carolina 4, No. 11 Texas 2
Doubles
1 Silvia Chinellato/Ingrid Gamarra Martins (USC) vs. Anna Turati/Fernanda Labrana (UT), 5-3, susp.
2 Hadley Berg/Paige Cline (USC) def. Bojana Markovic/Petra Granic (UT), 6-4
3 Megan Davies/Rachel Rohrabacher (USC) def. Bianca Turati/Dani Wagland (UT), 6-4
Singles – Order of Finish: 4, 5, 1, 2, 3
1 No. 1 Bianca Turati (UT) def. No. 118 Mia Horvit (USC), 6-2, 6-4
2 No. 41 Anna Turati (UT) def. No. 38 Hadley Berg (USC), 6-4, 4-1
3 Ingrid Gamarra Martins (USC) def. No. 64 Petra Granic (UT), 6-4, 6-4
4 Silvia Chinellato (USC) def. No. 115 Bojana Markovic (UT), 6-2, 6-3
5 Megan Davies (USC) def. Fernanda Labraña (UT), 6-3, 6-2
6 Katie Poluta (UT) vs. Rachel Rohrabacher (USC), 6-4, 1-6, 0-0, susp.
Players Mentioned
