A short-handed women’s tennis squad suffered its first loss of the 2016 season Friday, losing 4-3 against No. 28 South Carolina (5-0).
No. 7 Virginia (3-1) was forced to forfeit two separate matches — one singles and one doubles — after Head Coach Mark Guilbeau suspended five players earlier in the week for violating team policy.
A report published in The Daily Progress alleges seniors Maci Epstein and Skylar Morton, junior Victoria Olivarez, sophomore Cassie Mercer and freshman Meghan Kelley left the Boar’s Head Inn after a Jan. 23 victory over Columbia against the request of their coaching staff.
The suspensions not only cost the Cavaliers two matches due to forfeits, giving the Gamecocks a 2-0 lead before play even began, but also scrambled the typical lineups for Virginia, a consequence limiting the Cavaliers against the Gamecocks.
In singles play, Virginia had to field each of its remaining five players and forfeit the sixth match, which resulted in senior Taylor Wingo and freshman Erica Susi being rotated from reserve spots into the singles rotation.
Since it needed to sweep the remaining two doubles matches in order to clinch the point after forfeiting the first match, Virginia faced another steep disadvantage. South Carolina was quick to take advantage of this fact. The team of Hadley Berg/Paige Cline for the Gamecocks defeated Julia Elbaba/Stephanie Nauta of the Cavaliers, 6-2.
By then, the other doubles match between Virginia’s Danielle Collins/Erica Susi and South Carolina’s Caroline Dailey/Ingrid Martins was suspended at 3-3, South Carolina having already claimed the doubles point.
Given the circumstances Friday, the Cavaliers managed to make the match relatively close. The team managed to win its other three singles matches due to victories from Collins, Elbaba and Nauta, all of whom are part of the regular lineup.
However, after Collins and Nauta’s wins brought the match to a 3-3 tie, Susi’s loss clinched the victory for South Carolina and overshadowed Collins’ three-set triumph.
Coach Guilbeau stated in a press release the five players will remain suspended and will not be reinstated until he elects to do so. His Virginia team could be short-handed in Madison, Wis., for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, which will begin Friday.
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