TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Forcing three tiebreakers in second sets Tuesday in the SEC Tournament, 10th-seeded Vanderbilt couldn’t overcome an early deficit in a 4-1 loss to seventh-seeded South Carolina in the second round of the tournament.
“We fought really hard today and just came up short,” said head coach Aleke Tsoubanos. “We had opportunities on every court and in a lot of situations we just didn’t play the big points well enough. I thought we missed a chance to get the doubles point early, but the margin for error is just so small in this conference. We’re a young team, we’ll learn from this, we’ll regroup and we’ll prepare for the NCAA Tournament here in the coming weeks.”
With South Carolina (11-10, 7-6 SEC) leading 3-1, Anna Ross, Holly Staff and Christina Rosca all went into second-set tiebreakers looking to extend the match. No. 30 Rosca had won her first set at No. 1, but No. 50 Mia Horvitt earned the second-set tiebreaker to force a third set.
At No. 6, Staff was early in a breaker after dropping the first set, but her second-set decider went unfinished with Silvia Chinellato winning a lengthy 11-9 tiebreaker at No. 4 to claim the Gamecocks’ fourth and final point.
Marcella Cruz earned Vanderbilt’s (13-9, 5-8 SEC) lone point on the day with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Allie Gretkowski at No. 5.
Doubles was tight from start to finish, but South Carolina came out on top with a 6-2 decision at No. 1 and a 6-4 victory at No. 2. Rosca and Anessa Lee held a 5-4 lead at No. 3, but the match was abandoned with the Gamecocks going up 1-0.
Vanderbilt will now await its NCAA Tournament fate. Selections for the tournament are set for 5 p.m. CT Monday. Vanderbilt has been a part of the NCAA Tournament field every season the tournament has been held since 1995.
Results
Singles
1. Mia Horvit (USC) vs. Christina Rosca (VU) 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), unfinished
2. Megan Davies (USC) def. Emma Kurtz (VU) 6-4, 6-1
3. Emma Shelton (USC) def. Anessa Lee (VU) 7-6 (7-1), 6-2
4. Silvia Chinellato (USC) def. Anna Ross (VU) 6-4, 7-6 (11-9)
5. Marcella Cruz (VU) def. Allie Gretkowski (USC) 7-5, 6-1
6. Elise Mills (USC) vs. Holly Staff (VU) 6-4, 6-6 (2-2), unfinished
Doubles
1. Megan Davies/Mia Horvit (USC) def. Anna Ross/Holly Staff (VU) 6-2
2. Emma Shelton/Silvia Chinellato (USC) def. Emma Kurtz/Marcella Cruz (VU) 6-4
3. Allie Gretkowski/Elise Mills (USC) vs. Christina Rosca/Anessa Lee (VU) 4-5, unfinished
Match Notes:
Vanderbilt 13-9; National ranking #22
South Carolina 11-10; National ranking #27
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (5,2,3,4)
