Jan. 25, 2011

GREENVILLE, S.C. – South Carolina’s women’s tennis team improved to 2-0 this season with a 6-1 victory against Furman on Tuesday in Greenville, S.C.

South Carolina swept through the doubles matches, winning by scores of 8-3, 8-5 and 8-5 on courts one through three. All the matches were tight midway through, with South Carolina leading 4-3 at one and two doubles and Furman ahead 3-2 on court three.

The Gamecocks’ No. 1 team of Dominika Kanakova and Dijana Stojic went on to win the next four games to finish first with an 8-3 victory over Margaret Boyette and Lauren Kline. Josefin Andersson and Madeleine Saari-Byström clinched the doubles point with an 8-5 triumph against Monica Arguello on court two. Anya Morgina and Katerina Popova finished off doubles play downing Jennifer Betts and Katherine Oudin 8-5 at the No. 3 position.

South Carolina and Furman battled back and forth on the Paladins’ four indoor courts to open singles play. After nine games on each court, the scores all stood at 5-4, with two in favor of the Gamecocks and two for Furman.

On court three, Saari-Byström fell behind 5-3 in the first before coming back to defeat Oudin 7-5 in the first set. In the second, she raced out to a 3-0 advantage before taking the final set 6-1 to put South Carolina on top 2-0. Saari-Byström has now won 10 matches in a row dating back to the fall.

Kanakova pulled off a come-from-behind victory at No. 4 singles to give Carolina its third point. She quickly fell behind 3-0 in the first set to Boyette, but she managed to split the next four games to make it 5-2. Kanakova then got back to 5-all and then led 6-5, but Boyette forced a tiebreaker. In the breaker, the two were tied 6-all after the second changeover, and Kanakova took the next point on her serve to set up her second set point. Kanakova fought through a long rally on Boyette’s serve and won to take the set 7-6. Kanakova led 5-2 in the second before finishing off the match 6-3 to improve to 2-0 this spring.

The Paladins grabbed their lone point of the match a few minutes later with Arguello defeating Morgina in straight sets at No. 1 singles. Morgina led 5-3 in the first, but Arguello came back to win four consecutive games for a 7-5 first-set victory. In the second, Morgina held a 3-0 advantage before Arguello fought back again to force a tiebreaker. In the breaker, Morgina won the first point, but Arguello took the next five for a commanding 5-1 lead at the changeover. Morgina got the score to 6-3 before Arguello won the breaker and match on her serve 7-3.

Stojic provided South Carolina’s fourth point on court two for the win. She posted a 6-4 win for the first set over Kline, but her opponent rallied for the second set 6-3. In the third, Kline took the first game, but it was the only lead she would see. The two were knotted at 3-all, and Stojic took control from there to earn a 6-3 victory.

The last matches placed on court for spots five and six both ended in Gamecock wins. Miljana Jocic defeated Susan Bitetti first in straight sets 6-1, 6-3, while Andersson needed three sets to beat Murray 6-2, 2-6, (11-9). Andersson fell behind 8-4 in the super tiebreaker before claiming five straight points for match point. Murray fought it off, but Andersson claimed the next two points for the victory.

South Carolina now heads to Coral Gables, Fla., to face Arizona State in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend.

Singles
1. #69 Monica Arguello, FU, def. #37 Anya Morgina, USC, 7-5, 7-6(3)
2. #93 Dijana Stojic, USC, def. Lauren Kline, FU, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
3. Madeleine Saari-Byström, USC, def. Katherine Oudin, FU, 7-5, 6-1
4. Dominika Kanakova, USC, def. Margaret Boyette, FU, 7-6(6), 6-3
5. Josefin Andersson, USC, Amanda Murray, FU, 6-2, 2-6, (11-9)
6. Miljana Jocic, USC, def. Susan Bitetti, FU, 6-1, 6-3

Order of Finish: 3, 4, 1, 2, 6, 5

Doubles
1. Kanakova/Stojic, USC, def. Boyette/Kline, FU, 8-3
2. Andersson/Saari-Bystrom, USC, def. Arguello/Murray, FU, 8-5
3. Morgina/Katerina Popova, USC, def. Jennifer Betts/Oudin, FU, 8-5

Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3