May 15, 2011

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The No. 35 South Carolina women’s tennis team (14-11) saw its season end in the NCAA Tournament’s second round Sunday with a 4-0 loss to No. 1 Florida (27-1) in Gainesville, Fla., at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex.

The Gamecocks lost the doubles point to the Gators. UF struck first on court two with Lauren Embree and Sophie Oyen defeating Miljana Jocic and Katerina Popova 8-2. The clincher came from Olivia Janowicz and Joanna Mather at the No. 3 position with an 8-3 triumph over Adriana Pereira and Dijana Stojic. Pereira and Stojic had a 3-1 lead after four games before Florida won seven in a row to close it out.

The match at No. 1 doubles between Florida’s Allie Will and Alex Cercone and South Carolina’s Dominika Kanakova and Anya Morgina was suspended after the point was decided with Florida leading 7-3.

The Gators proved too much in singles as well. Will added the Gators’ second point by defeating Morgina on court one by a 6-0, 6-0 count. Mather finished next with a 6-2, 6-2 triumph over Kanakova at the No. 4 spot, and Cercone clinched the match for Florida by defeating Pereira 6-0, 6-3 at No. 5 singles.

On court two, Stojic lost the first set to Embree 6-3 and trailed 2-1 when play was suspended. At No. 3 singles, Oyen had a 6-3, 3-1 lead over Popova, and Jocic was leading 3-2 in a first-set tiebreaker against Janowicz on court six.

Despite the loss, South Carolina has won at least one NCAA Tournament match in 15 of its 17 consecutive appearances. Overall, the Gamecocks own a 21-21 record in NCAA play during their 21 overall bids. The Gamecocks have reached the round of 16 or better six times with the most recent being 2009 when they made the quarterfinals.

The season will continue for Morgina, as she gets set to play in the NCAA Singles Championship beginning May 25 in Stanford, Calif. The draw for the tournament will be announced May 24. Morgina owns a 24-14 record in singles this year and is currently ranked No. 44 in the nation. She was named the ITA Carolina Region Player to Watch earlier this week and was also a first-team All-SEC selection.

Singles
1. #7 Allie Will, UF, def. #44 Anya Morgina, USC, 6-0, 6-0
2. #96 Dijana Stojic, USC, vs. #17 Lauren Embree, UF, 3-6, 1-2 susp.
3. Katerina Popova, USC, vs. #91 Sofie Oyen, UF, 2-6, 1-3 susp.
4. #42 Joanna Mather, UF, def. Dominika Kanakova, USC, 6-2, 6-2
5. #54 Alex Cercone, UF, def. Adriana Pereira, USC, 6-0, 6-3
6. Miljana Jocic, USC, vs. #53 Olivia Janowicz, UF, 6-6 (3-2) susp.

Order of Finish: 1, 4, 5

Doubles
1. #40 Kanakova/Morgina, USC, vs. #2 Cercone/Will, UF, 3-7 susp.
2. #45 Embree/Oyen, UF, def. Jocic/Popova, USC, 8-2
3. Janowicz/Mather, UF, def. Pereira/Stojic, USC, 8-3

Order of Finish: 2, 3