No. 12 @ClemsonWTennis Drops Gamecocks in Columbia

COLUMBIA, SC – The 12th-ranked Clemson women’s tennis team defeated No. 32 South Carolina, 5-2, in Columbia on Sunday afternoon. Clemson (7-2) has won 11 of its last 13 meetings with the Gamecocks (6-2), and improves to 26-23 against South Carolina all-time.  Clemson started the day off on a strong note, capturing the doubles point for the seventh time in eight matches. The duos of Koroleva and Gumulya (ranked 55th nationally) and Miao and Rompies won on courts one and three by scores of 8-5 and 8-3, respectively. After charging out to a 5-0 lead, Koroleva and Gumulya held on to win the match. Miao and Rompis fell down early in their match, though, before battling back to win the set 8-3. On court two, Koelzer and Dewar fought back from a 7-2 deficit to pull within one game at 7-6 when their match was halted due to the clinch from Koroleva and Gumulya.  Clemson clinched the match early, winning the first three matches of singles play to take a 4-0 lead over the Gamecocks. Clemson swept all six first sets to begin singles play. Yana Koroleva, Romy Koelzer and Jessy Rompies all cruised to 6-1 wins while Beatrice Gumulya, Yuilynn Miao and Tristen Dewar added decisive victories.  Koelzer, ranked 54th in the country, matched her first set score, defeating Elixane Lechemia 6-1 again to earn the match victory and give the Tigers a 2-0 lead. Rompies followed shortly thereafter with a 6-3 win her her second set. Koroleva, the highest ranked Tiger at No. 40, continued her success, winning the second set 6-4. She is now 9-1 in her past 10 matches. She earned the clinch just moments after Rompies’ win.  After Miao and Gumulya fell in third-set tiebreakers, Dewar, ranked 85th, won her match, 6-2, 7-6 (7), on court five.  After nearly a month on the road, Clemson will return home to the Hoke Sloan Tennis Center on Friday, February 21. The Tigers will host Harvard at 2:30 pm in the first meeting between the two schools since 2006. Harvard did travel to Clemson in 2010 for the NCAA Tournament, but the squads did not match up in that event.  Full Results: #12 Clemson 5, #32 South Carolina 2 Feb. 16, 2014 Singles 1. #40 Yana Koroleva, CU, def. #112 Brigit Folland, USC, 6-1, 6-4 2. #T-69 Katerina Popova, USC, def. #T-90 Beatrice Gumulya, CU, 3-6, 6-4, (10-7) 3. #54 Romy Koelzer, CU, def. Elixane Lechemia, USC, 6-1, 6-1 4. Meghan Blevins, USC, def. Yuilynn Miao, CU, 4-6, 6-2, (10-6) 5. #85 Tristen Dewar, CU, Ximena Siles Luna, USC, 6-2, 7-6 (9-7) 6. Jessy Rompies, CU, def. Caroline Dailey, USC, 6-1, 6-3   Order of Finish: 3, 6, 1, 4, 2, 5   Doubles 1. #55 Gumulya/Koroleva, CU, def. Blevins/Lechemia, USC, 8-5 2. Folland/Popova, USC, led Dewar/Koelzer, CU, 7-6 susp. 3. Miao/Rompies, CU, def. Siles Luna/Dominika Kanakova, USC, 8-3   Order of Finish: 3, 1