The South Carolina women’s tennis team secured a 4-3 victory over No. 21 Clemson on Wednesday night at the Carolina Outdoor Tennis Center. The Gamecocks rallied from behind in singles play to claim the win.
In doubles, Taylor Goetz and Jana Stojanova lost their match on court five, 6-2. On court one, Lauren Friedman and Helena Buchwald, ranked No. 37 nationally, defeated Clemson’s No. 23 duo for South Carolina’s first doubles win. The deciding doubles point came down to Kaitlyn Carnicella and Jane Dunyon, who fell in a close contest, 7-6(3).
During singles play, South Carolina lost the first set on four courts but managed to push each of those matches into a third set by winning the second frame. Helena Buchwald earned the team’s first singles point after coming back from a 0-6 loss in her opening set to win the next two sets 6-2 each.
Sara Borkop was defeated in three sets on court three, putting Clemson ahead again at 2-1. Kaitlyn Carnicella responded with another comeback for South Carolina; after dropping her first set 1-6, she won the next two sets to tie the overall score at 2-2.
Jane Dunyon won her match after taking the first set (6-4), losing the second (2-6), and then winning a close third set (7-5) to give South Carolina its first lead of the night at 3-2. Jana Stojanova lost her match on court six as Clemson evened things up at three points apiece.
The final decision came down to Taylor Goetz’s match against Clemson’s No.124-ranked Ria Bhakta on court four. Goetz took a tight first set (7-6[4]), dropped the second (5-7), but dominated in the third (6-1) to clinch both her individual victory and South Carolina’s upset over Clemson.
South Carolina will remain at home for a doubleheader on Saturday, February 14th: they will face Charlotte at 10 a.m., followed by South Carolina State at 1 p.m.
