April 13, 2007
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ON TAP THIS WEEK: The 23rd-ranked South Carolina women’s tennis team concludes the 2007 regular season Saturday when it takes on No. 3 Florida at 10 a.m. in Gainesville, Fla. The Gamecocks stand 16-4 overall and are 8-2 in the SEC and have already clinched a first-round bye for this year’s conference tournament. Florida is 18-1 in 2007 and 9-1 in the league.
VERSUS THE OPPOSITION:
Florida
Overall: 2-30
Home: 1-12
Away: 0-12
Neutral: 1-6
Last: L, 0-4, H, 2006
Streak: UF, 24 wins
ABOUT FLORIDA: The Gators have suffered just one loss this season and won 18 matches. Their lone defeat came at Georgia by a 4-3 margin in March. Florida has dominated the SEC at home throughout its history with the league, owning a 138-1 record in Gainesville, Fla., during league matches. Its only loss came in 2002 against Georgia. The Gators currently are riding a 39-match winning streak at home. Diana Srebrovic is the highest-ranked Florida player at 18th, and Megan Alexander is close behind at No. 20. Csilla Borsanyi is rated 68th, Nina Suvak is 94th and Lolita Frangulyan is ranked No. 107 in singles. Srebrovic and Alexander form the nation’s 27th-ranked doubles squad as well.
SOUTH CAROLINA’S LAST MATCH: The Vanderbilt Commodores snapped the South Carolina women’s tennis team’s eight-match unbeaten streak Sunday at Currey Tennis Center in Nashville, Tenn., by a 5-2 margin. Vanderbilt improved to 15-7 with the victory and 8-2 in the SEC, while the Gamecocks dropped to 16-4 and 8-2 in the league. The Commodores won the doubles point, with Liberty Sveke and Courtney Ulery first taking the No. 3 position 8-6 against Laura Ganzer and Megan McGavock. Amanda Fish and Amanda Taylor, who are ranked 18th, put Vandy ahead 1-0 by upending Gira Schofield and Ana Marija Zubori 8-4 on court 1. The final match at the second slot belonged to Carolina’s Christyn Lucas and Natasa Vuckovic by an 8-5 count over Taka Bertrand and Catherine Newman. The Commodores jumped ahead 2-0 after Bertrand won 6-1, 6-1 in her match with Lucas at No. 4 singles, but Ganzer answered for the Gamecocks with a 6-2, 6-4 triumph at six versus Sveke. Taylor gave Vanderbilt its third point when she took a 7-5, 6-3 decision from Zubori on court 2, and Ulery went on to clinch the team win by scores of 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 over McGavock at the No. 5 spot. Vuckovic registered USC’s final point after the Commodores led 4-1. She defeated No. 38 Newman at three singles 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, making Newman the highest-ranked player the sophomore has beaten in her career. Vuckovic is 21-6 in singles this season and 17-3 in dual matches, which includes a 9-1 mark against SEC opponents. Fish came back to post a victory over Schofield in the final match on court 1. After losing the first set 6-2, she claimed the second 7-5 and grabbed a 10-7 win in a super tiebreaker for the third set. It marked the second year in a row the two played a super tiebreaker to decide the final set, and it was Schofield who walked away victorious in 2006.
THE STORY ON ZUBORI: Freshman Ana Marija Zubori was nearly untouchable leading up to South Carolina’s first weekend of SEC play. She had a streak of 38 consecutive games won when she took on Mississippi State’s Elna de Villiers. Zubori had her streak snapped in the first game but went on to win the next 11 en route to a 6-1, 6-1 win. Zubori has lost just six sets this spring and won 16 of her last 18 contests. Overall for the 2006-07 season, Zubori is 28-6 in singles play and 14-1 against regional opponents. A holder of dual citizenship from France and Serbia, Zubori has been equally successful with her doubles play by putting up a 21-11 record. She and Gira Schofield have been ranked as high as 18th in the country this season and are currently No. 32.
LIKING THE PALMETTO STATE: In addition to her stellar 28-6 overall singles record and 14-1 slate against regional opponents, freshman Ana Marija Zubori has enjoyed playing in the Palmetto State. In fact, she has lost just one collegiate match playing in South Carolina with a 17-1 mark. Playing in Columbia, S.C., Zubori is 14-1.
GIVING A STRONG FINISH: Senior Christyn Lucas is making the most of her final year of eligibility. Lucas is 18-9 overall in singles and been a consistent winner in duals with a 12-5 mark. The team’s 2005 MVP, Lucas has been just as successful in doubles playing with Natasa Vuckovic, as the duo is 18-3 and 16-2 in dual match-ups. The pair is Carolina’s regular No. 2 doubles team and is 13-2 at the position. Lucas’ 22 wins playing doubles is a personal single-season best as well.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Natasa Vuckovic won the second Southeastern Conference Player of the Week award in her career March 27. Vuckovic posted a 2-0 record in singles and doubles in helping the Gamecocks defeat LSU and Arkansas to earn the recognition. She upended Nicole Kantor from LSU 6-4, 7-5 at three singles and was a 6-1, 6-0 winner against Audrey Bordeleau of Arkansas playing the No. 4 slot. Vuckovic teamed with Christyn Lucas for doubles at the second position, and the duo’s victories proved critical in securing the doubles points for both contests.
GOOD TO BE A GAMECOCK: With a 16-4 record, South Carolina has its best record through 20 matches since 1995 when the squad finished 22-7 after being 18-2, reached the NCAA Sweet 16 and posted a year-end ranking of 11th. South Carolina is 8-2 in the SEC heading into its final match for just the second time in school history. The first was in 1996, and the Gamecocks won their final regular-season contest at Kentucky to cap a 9-2 campaign. Sixteen overall victories also is the most for Carolina since 2002 when the squad went 17-8.
IT’S STILL UP FOR GRABS: With just one SEC match remaining for all 12 teams, there is still no telling who will be crowned this year’s conference champion. One of the few things that has been decided is Florida (9-1 SEC), Georgia (9-1 SEC), South Carolina (8-2 SEC) and Vanderbilt (8-2 SEC) have clinched first-round byes at this year’s conference tournament. The potential exists that all four of the top seeds could be co-champs. That scenario would happen should Georgia lose at Tennessee (6-4 SEC), Vanderbilt win at Kentucky (6-4 SEC) and South Carolina win at Florida. The only way an outright champion will be crowned is if Georgia wins and Florida loses or vice versa. Kentucky is assured of being either the No. 5 or No. 6 seed. If the Wildcats defeat Vandy they will be the fifth seed, regardless of what Tennessee does against Georgia. The Lady Vols need a win and a UK loss to be the fifth seed. Should LSU (5-5 SEC) win at Arkansas (3-7 SEC), Tennessee lose and Kentucky win, the Tigers would earn the No. 6 seed since they won head-to-head against UT. If LSU wins and UK and UT both lose, things get really interesting. Since all three teams would have 1-1 records against each other, the next tiebreaker would be the team’s records against the rest of the SEC in decending order of the final standings. The teams would still be tied, though, since all three lost to the four above them and defeated the five below. So, the seeds would be determined by a coin toss or draw by the SEC Commissioner. Auburn (4-6 SEC) has locked up the No. 8 seed no matter what happens Saturday, and Arkansas will be the No. 9 seed, meaning the two will play in the first round of the SEC Tournament. Mississippi (0-10 SEC) can be no higher than the 11 seed even if it defeats Mississippi State (1-9 SEC) since it lost head-to-head with Alabama (1-9 SEC). MSU’s one win came against Alabama, so a win over the Lady Rebels will give it the No. 10 seed. Alabama can only be the 10th seed if it defeats Auburn and Mississippi State loses to Ole Miss.
SEC TOURNAMENT INFO: The 2007 SEC Women’s Tennis Tournament is set to take place over April 19-22 at Boone Tennis Complex in Lexington, Ky. Two first-round matches begin at 10 a.m. April 19 followed by another pair at 1 p.m. The quarterfinals follow the same schedule the following day. One semifinal match will be played at 10 a.m. April 21 and the next at 1 p.m. The championship match is set for noon April 22. Live scoring updates will be available for all matches at www.ukathletics.com.
NCAA TOURNAMENT INFO: First- and second-round NCAA Tournament matches will be played over May 11-13 at 16 campus sites that will be determined once the field of participants has been announced. The 64-team bracket will be announced May 1 at 8:45 p.m. ET on ESPNEWS. Georgia is hosting this year’s women’s and men’s championships in Athens, Ga., at Dan McGill Tennis Complex over May 18-28. The round of 16 and beyond for the men’s and women’s tournaments takes place in Athens, with the women’s running from May 18-22. The singles and doubles championships take place over May 23-28. The field of players for the singles tourney will be released by 6 p.m. ET May 2 on the NCAA’s Web site. Draws for the individual championships will be set May 22. The singles tournament consists of 64 players, while the doubles championship is played with 32 teams.
RECORDS CHECK: With 28 singles victories so far, freshman Ana Marija Zubori is just one away from cracking the top 10 on the Gamecocks’ all-time single-season list. It is also the most wins in one season for a South Carolina player since 1998-99 when Lynn-Yin Tan went 28-9. Zubori is two wins away from breaking into the top 10 for combined victories as well with 49. Senior Laura Ganzer has a 25-7 record playing doubles this season, putting her in a tie for eighth place on the school’s single-season list. It is the most wins in doubles by a Gamecock since Jodi Kenoyer piled up 28 during 2001-02.
A TOUGH OUT FOR ANYBODY: Natasa Vuckovic has done more than just avoid the dreaded sophomore slump. She has been the most consistent winner for the Gamecocks during the spring, going 17-3 in dual matches and 9-1 against SEC opponents. Vuckovic had an 11-match winning streak prior to her three-set loss against Kentucky, but she rebounded two days later at Vanderbilt with a win over No. 38 Catherine Newman, the highest-ranked player Vuckovic has beaten in her career. Vuckovic is 21-6 overall for the 2006-07 season. She and senior Christyn Lucas form one of the Gamecocks’ most formidable doubles teams, as the duo is 18-3 overall and won nine in a row at one point this spring. In duals, Lucas and Vuckovic are 16-2 and 13-2 as South Carolina’s No. 2 squad. They have just one loss in SEC matches at 7-1.
LIVE SCORING: All home Gamecock women’s tennis matches feature live scoring on the Internet at www.USCsports.com. Links to live scoring when Carolina travels are posted on its Web site under the schedule link.
SCHOFIELD’S BIG WINS: Gira Schofield scored one of her best victories of the year when she defeated then-No. 28 Kellie Schmitt of Marshall 6-4, 6-2 on Feb. 28. At the time, Schmitt was the third-highest ranked player the sophomore had defeated in her career, as Schofield beat foes rated 12th and 15th a year ago. She finished the week with a 3-0 record at the top spot after taking out opponents from Mississippi and Mississippi State in straight sets. Against Arkansas, Schofield downed then-No. 25 Ela Kaluder for her first victory of the season versus a top-25 opponent. Two days prior, Schofield nearly scored a win over the nation’s current No. 3-rated player in Megan Falcon of LSU. The two split tiebreakers for the first two sets before Falcon took the third. Schofield’s next win of note was versus Fani Chifchieva from Auburn by scores of 6-1, 6-3. Chifchieva was 30th at the time of the match, and Schofield’s win proved critical as the Gamecocks won the contest 4-3.
WHAT IT TAKES TO BE ALL-AMERICA: All-America teams are awarded in tennis for singles and doubles play. No voting takes place, so the teams are decided based on the following criteria:
Singles
1. Top 16 seed in NCAA Singles Tourney, or
2. Reach round of 16 in NCAA Singles Tourney, or
3. Finish in top 20 of final ITA rankings
Doubles
1. Top eight seed in NCAA Doubles Tourney, or
2. Reach quarters of NCAA Doubles Tourney, or
3. Finish in top 10 of final ITA rankings
GAMECOCKS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: South Carolina made its 12th-straight appearance in NCAA play in 2006 and its 16th overall. USC is 15-16 in the tournament. The Gamecocks appeared in the first two tournaments in 1982 and 1983 and reached the quarterfinals in ’82, which remains the best showing in school history. The Gamecocks have reached the Sweet 16 five times, with their last appearance coming in 1999. In addition to USC making the NCAA field 12 times in a row, the school has won 12 of its past 13 first-round matches.
IN THE RANKINGS: South Carolina is currently ranked 23rd in the latest ITA rankings, which are determined using a computer average. It marks the second week in a row the Gamecocks have been among the top 25 after checking in for the first time of the season last week at No. 22. Individually, sophomore Gira Schofield and freshman Ana Marija Zubori are rated No. 32 as a doubles team, and Schofield is 55th in singles, a jump of 63 spots from her previous ranking and her best of the spring.
IT’S ALL ABOUT CONSISTENCY: South Carolina extended its streak of consecutive NCAA appearances to 12 in 2006, which stands as the 11th-longest active streak in the country.
NCAA INDIVIDUAL HISTORY: South Carolina has placed either a singles competitor or doubles team in 19 of 25 NCAA Individual Tennis Championships. Laura Berstein remains the only Gamecock to advance to the round of 16 in singles, doing so in 1983 in Albuquerque, N.M. In doubles, Helen Crook and Victoria Davies are the only USC duo to go as far as the semifinals, which happened in 1994 in Athens, Ga. Last year, Gira Schofield became just the second USC freshman to compete in the NCAA Singles Championship.
