March 16, 2012

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The 35th-ranked South Carolina women’s tennis team will take on its final two non-conference opponents of the season when it hosts Georgia State and Old Dominion. The Gamecocks face GSU on Saturday at 1 p.m. and ODU on Sunday at 11 a.m. Both matches are scheduled to take place at Carolina Tennis Center.

South Carolina (8-4, 1-3 SEC) picked up its first win in SEC play last week with a 6-1 victory against Kentucky. It marked the Gamecocks’ sixth straight win over the Wildcats. Against No. 22 Vanderbilt, the Gamecocks suffered a 5-2 defeat, losing three singles matches in three sets. South Carolina nearly won the doubles point against the Commodores, winning court three in a tiebreak, 7-4, while losing court one by an 8-6 score in the tiebreaker. Nelly Radeva provided the winning point in singles when she defeated Josefin Andersson in three sets at No. 6 singles.

Katerina Popova won both of her matches last week in singles to improve to 3-1 in SEC play this season at No. 4 singles. Popova has won three in a row after opening the season with a loss to Georgia. Overall, Popova is 15-8 for the year and she leads the team in dual match victories with a 9-3 record.

Adriana Pereira took her first loss of the year in league play after starting 3-0 at No. 5 singles when she fell in three sets to Ashleigh Antal of Vanderbilt. Pereira has one of the team’s best SEC records during her career with a 16-6 mark. As a freshman in 2010, she tied a school record by winning nine matches playing the bottom three positions.

Dominika Kanakova posted a much-needed victory at No. 3 singles versus Alex Leatu of Vandy, defeating her 6-2, 6-1 to pick up her first league victory of the season. Kanakova is tied with Anya Morgina for third on the team in singles wins with 14.

Jaklin Alawi continues to lead the team in singles wins with an 18-6 mark. Alawi has played every match this season at No. 2 singles, where she is 7-4 and 1-3 in SEC play. She also has the most doubles wins individually with a 15-7 mark playing with four different partners. Alawi is currently ranked No. 82 in the nation in singles and has been as high as No. 33. She holds two doubles rankings coming in at No. 64 with Dijana Stojic and No. 70 with Anya Morgina.

Morgina is the highest ranked player for the Gamecocks at No. 45. Earlier this spring, she set a personal best coming in at No. 20 in the nation. The Gamecock senior is 8-3 at No. 1 singles and 1-3 versus the SEC. She began the season with seven consecutive wins and will look to get back on track this weekend after dropping thee of her last four match-ups.

Andersson has continued to produce consistent results playing No. 6 singles after joining the lineup with Stojic still sidelined. Andersson has gone 4-3 in dual matches and 3-2 on court six. She has a 2-2 record in league matches this season and is 11-6 overall.

In doubles, the team of Popova and Andersson at the No. 3 position now has the most wins of any Gamecock duo for the year with a 9-6 record. The tandem snared two wins last weekend over Kentucky and Vanderbilt and stands 2-2 in SEC matches. The Gamecocks have used four different combinations at No. 1 doubles and six different duos for No. 2 doubles.

Georgia State (7-4) enters Saturday’s match with a No. 66 national ranking. The Panthers come in with consecutive wins against Samford and North Florida. South Carolina and Georgia State have one common opponent this season with William & Mary. Both schools beat the Tribe, with Carolina winning 4-1 and GSU defeating the Tribe 4-2. Georgia State has one ranked player with Abigail Tere-Apisah at No. 34. Saturday will mark the first meeting in the history of Georgia State and South Carolina’s programs.

Old Dominion (9-3) lost its last match with Wisconsin 6-1 and the Monarchs will play UNC Wilmington on Saturday before heading to Columbia, S.C., to take on the Gamecocks. ODU has won four matches by 4-3 scores this spring. The Monarchs have no players ranked in singles or doubles. South Carolina and Old Dominion have played just once prior to Sunday’s contest, a 9-0 win by the Gamecocks in Columbia in 1979.