The No. 23 Virginia women’s tennis team’s season came to an end on Saturday with a 4-0 loss to No. 10 South Carolina in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Gamecocks won the doubles point and picked up three singles wins to secure the victory and reach the Round of 16. Three singles matches were in or on the verge of a third set when South Carolina clinched the victory.
“Congratulations to South Carolina,” Virginia head coach Sara O’Leary said. “They played a great match today. Our team was right there in most of the matches. Our top three courts were in a third set or serving to force a third set. At five singles, Dora [Radosavljevic] was a point away from winning the first set, as well as a point away in the second set to reach 5-5. Our team showed incredible heart today, and all season long.”
The Gamecocks claimed the doubles point with wins on courts two and three. The South Carolina duo of Mia Horvit and Ingrid Martins won 6-1 over the UVa duo of Rosie Johanson and Meghan Kelley on court two. The Gamecocks then clinched the point with a 6-3 win on court three from the pairing of Megan Davies and Rachel Rohrabacher, who defeated Virginia’s Hunter Bleser and Teodora Radosavljevic.
The Gamecocks extended the lead to 2-0 with a win on court six in singles, as Rohrabacher picked up a 6-2, 6-3 win over Bleser. It was followed by a 6-2, 6-2 win on court four as Paige Cline defeated Chloe Gullickson to pull the home team within a point of clinching the match.
With the singles matches on courts one, two and three still in play, the Gamecocks clinched the match with a victory on court five, where Davies rallied in both the first and second sets to pick up a 7-6 (3), 6-4 victory over Radosavljevic.
Despite the loss, O’Leary was proud of her team and the Cavaliers’ senior class.
“They are tough, resilient and believe in themselves and each other,” O’Leary said. “They have grown so much on and off the court, and I could not be prouder of them. I’m extremely grateful for the amazing effort from our seniors, Cassie [Mercer] and Dora. They have been tremendous leaders for this program, made an incredibly positive impact and we are going to really miss them.”
Individual play will continue for two Cavaliers at the NCAA Women’s Singles and Doubles Championships, which begin on May 23 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Johanson will compete in the singles tournament and pair with Kelley in the doubles tournament.