Gamecocks Earn Bids to NCAA Singles, Doubles Championships

April 29, 2009

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Seniors Gira Schofield and Natasa Vuckovic along with junior Ana Marija Zubori from the South Carolina women’s tennis team earned bids to the NCAA individual championships Wednesday.

Schofield received her fourth consecutive bid to the NCAA Singles Championship, making her the first player in school history to make the tournament four times. She advanced to the second round last season before losing to eventual champion Amanda McDowell of Georgia Tech in three sets. Schofield is 20-13 overall this season and 14-10 at No. 1 singles. She was a second-team All-SEC honoree, becoming the first four-time award winner in Carolina history, and is current ranked No. 43 in the country.

Zubori will make her first appearance in the singles tournament. Ranked as high as No. 14 this spring and currently No. 48 in the nation, Zubori owns an impressive 27-6 singles record and went 19-4 at No. 2 singles for the Gamecocks. In addition to securing the team’s MVP award, Zubori earned a place on the All-SEC First Team, making her just the third first-team selection in school history.

Vuckovic and Zubori will team up for the doubles tournament. The duo’s current ranking of 27th is its highest of the season. Vuckovic and Zubori own an overall record of 18-11 and went 12-10 at the No. 1 doubles position. It is the first career appearance in the doubles championship for both women.

With two singles players and a doubles team entered in this year’s field, South Carolina has its most representatives for the individual championships since 2002 when current assistant coach Katarina Petrovic (Markovski) and Jennifer Radman played the singles event and Radman and Kathy Boyanovich competed in doubles.

The 2009 NCAA Division I Women’s Singles and Doubles Championships will take place May 20-25 at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station, Texas, following the conclusion of the team championship (May 15-19). Texas A&M will serve as the host institution. The singles field consists of 64 players while doubles includes 32 teams. The draw for both tournaments will be set the day before competition starts.