20th-ranked Women’s Tennis Falls To No. 2 Georgia, 4-3

April 5, 2002

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The 20th-ranked South Carolina women’s tennis team gave 2nd-ranked Georgia a scare Friday afternoon but the Bulldogs survived with a 4-3 win in Southeastern Conference Eastern Division action at the Maxcy Gregg Tennis Center on the USC campus.

With the win, Georgia improves to 19-1 overall and 9-0 in the SEC while the Gamecocks fall to 13-5, 6-3 in the SEC.

Georgia, behind a sweep of the three doubles matches, jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the match. USC did stage two rallies late in doubles matches at No. 1 and 3, but the Bulldogs were able to recover to claim both of those matches by a score of 9-7. At No. 1, 12th-ranked Agata Cioroch and Lori Grey held off 45th-ranked Jennifer Radman and Kath Boyanovich while the UGA pair of Anne Nguyen and Alexandra Smith defeated Katarina Markovski and Ayako Suzuki at No. 3. The ‘Dogs clinched the doubles point with a win at No. 2 as 25th-ranked Mariel Verban and Tina Hojnik upended 28th-ranked Lynn-Yin Tan and Jodi Kenoyer 8-5.

Carolina quickly evened the score to 1-1 when Lynn-Yin Tan beat Tina Hojnik 67-0, 67-38 at No. 4 singles. The win, in addition to erasing Georgia’s lead, was Tan’s 100th career singles win. The senior from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, becomes just the third Gamecock women’s tennis player to reach the century mark.

8th-ranked Agata Cioroch put Georgia back into the lead at No. 1, beating 72nd-ranked Katarina Markovski 6-4, 7-6 (11-9). But USC again rebounded with a Jodi Kenoyer win at No. 5, toppling Lori Grey 6-4, 6-3.

But the Bulldogs pulled out wins at No. 3 singles (50th-ranked Anne Nguyen def. Kathy Boyanovich (USC) 6-2, 7-5) and No. 2 singles (40th-ranked Mariel Verban def. 85th-ranked Jennifer Radman (USC) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2) to clinch the dual match win.

USC senior Tamara Sutton rallied from down a set to claim a 1-6, 6-4, 7-5 win at No. 6 singles against Alexandra Smith to complete the day’s action.

USC is back in action Sunday afternoon at home when they host 10th-ranked Tennessee at 1:00 p.m. at the Maxcy Gregg Tennis Center. Georgia moves on to face top-ranked Florida Sunday in Gainesville in a match that will decide the race for the 2002 SEC Championship.

Match Results

No. 2 Georgia 4, No. 20 USC 3

Doubles

1. (12) Cioroch/ Grey (UGA) def. (45) Radman/Boyanovich (USC) 9-7*

2. (25) Verban/ Hojnik (UGA) def. (28) Tan/Kenoyer (USC) 8-5

3. Nguyen/ Smith (UGA) def. Markovski/Ayako Suzuki (USC) 9-7

* Georgia wins the doubles point, Order of finish: 2, 1, 3

Singles

1. (8) Agata Cioroch (UGA) def. (72) Katarina Markovski (USC) 6-4, 7-6 (11-9)

2. (40) Mariel Verban (UGA) def. (85) Jennifer Radman (USC) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2*

3. (50) Anne Nguyen (UGA) def. Kathy Boyanovich (USC) 6-2, 7-5

4. Lynn-Yin Tan (USC) def. Tina Hojnik (UGA) 6-0, 6-3