Oct. 30, 2005
South Carolina women’s tennis dominated the courts in the final day of action at their annual Southern Intercollegiate Tournament held in Columbia on October 28-30th. Competing in four singles finals, the Gamecocks claimed wins in three, while finishing runner-up in the fourth and also claiming a victory in doubles.
Making a strong freshman debut in the home tournament was Gira Schofield. After breezing by opponents in the first two days of action, Schofield returned Sunday to dominate her opponent A. Guerra, of North Carolina State, in an impressive A1 singles final, 6-3, 6-0.
Freshman Natasa Vuckovic was not too far behind, also making an impressive performance by finishing runner-up in A2 singles action. Vuckovic defeated her opponent Burisev, of South Carolina State, 5-3, before Burisev retired from competition. In B1 singles action, sophomore Megan McGavock also came out on top with a dominating 6-0, 6-1 defeat of opponent L. Ballard, of Tennessee-Chattanooga. The final singles title of the day came when redshirt sophomore Grace Blakely defeated her opponent in the B2 final, 6-1, 6-4.
“We won three singles flights, including the top singles flight. So I thought that was pretty good,” said USC Head Coach Arlo Elkins. “I thought it was a particularly good performance by the freshmen who won the top flight and was runner-up in another, so it was good to see them do as well as they good.”
The Gamecocks also saw success in doubles action when freshman duo Schofield and Vuckovic claimed the win in A1 doubles, 9-7, against North Carolina State’s Orlay and Roach. Also in that flight, South Carolina senior Justine Walsh and Blakely finished fifth with an 8-1 victory over their opponents Brieholtz and Podgorsek, of Georgia State. In B1 doubles competition, South Carolina duo Laura Ganzer and McGavock finished third with an 8-4 win over North Carolina State’s Barringer and Johnson.
The Gamecocks will be headed to Peachtree City, Ga. next weekend for the SEC Fall Coaches Classic. Results will be available at www.uscsports.com.
