May 11, 2002

Gamecocks, Rams Advance to Second Round of NCAA Women’s Tennis Tournament

South Carolina to face Virginia Commonwealth Sunday at 2:00 p.m.

Columbia, SC – Both South Carolina Gamecocks and the Virginia Commonwealth Rams walked away with smiles Saturday as both won their first round matches of the 2002 NCAA Women’s Tennnis Championships in Columbia, South Carolina.

However, the smiles did not last for long as they realized they would have to face each other in what is sure to be a close rematch Sunday at 2:00 p.m.

In the first match of the day, the VCU Rams (18-2) defeated the Florida State Seminoles(12-15) 4-0 after being moved indoors due to inclimate weather. VCU jumped out to an early lead by winning the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and 3 doubles 8-0 and 8-3, respectively. At No. 1 doubles for VCU, Martina Nedelkova and Andrea Ondrisova looked great as they took the match in doubles, then both won their singles matches as well. Nedelkova, facing Alida Gallovits at No. 2 singles, was the first to finish as she easily won 6-2, 6-0. Andrea Ondrisova was not far behind Nedelkova as she defeated Anca Dumitrescu at No. 1 doubles 6-3, 6-1. At No. 4 singles, VCU’s Barbora Zahnova defeated Jessica Balbuena 6-2, 6-1 to clinch the match for the Rams.

“I was pretty comfortable throughout the match,” said VCU’s Martina Nedelkova. “I felt good despite my shoulder not being 100%. “We need to make sure we have a good warm-up and perform well, just as we try to do in every match that we play. A good warm-up is important to get us in the right frame of mind.”

In the second match of the day, the South Carolina Gamecocks (17-7) defeated the Hampton Lady Pirates (15-10) as the second match of the day was moved back to the Maxcy Gregg Tennis Facility as the inclimate weather passed Columbia.

The Gamecocks won the doubles point, despite starting off slowly. At No. 1 doubles, Carolina’s Jennifer Radman and Kathy Boyanovich got off on the wrong foot, falling behind 4-1, but fought back to win the clinching doubles match 8-4. South Carolina’s No. 2 doubles pair of Jodi Kenoyer and Lynn-Yin Tan combined to defeat Hampton’s Alena Mitackova and Jana Matouskova 8-1, giving Lynn-Yin Tan 100 doubles wins in her career at South Carolina.

In the singles competition, Hampton recorded their only point as Carolina’s Katarina Markovski retired with Hampton leading 6-3 and 2-1 in the second set. At No. 3 singles, Kathy Boyanovich could not be stopped as she defeated Jana Matouskova 6-0, 6-1. Lynn-Yin Tan recorded a win at No. 4 singles, defeating Lenka Schulzova 6-4, 6- 0. Finally, Jodi Kenoyer sealed the Gamecocks’ victory with a 6-4, 6-0 win at No. 5 singles over Hampton’s Petra Kimplova.

“We looked a little rusty today, but we did what we had to do to win,” said South Carolina Head Coach Arlo Elkins. “We got out of today what we needed, which was good, hard matches form a bunch of people who don’t play everyday. I wasn’t totally pleased with how we played today, and we’re going to have to play a lot better to win tomorrow.”

#13 South Carolina will face #24 Virginia Commonwealth Sunday at 2:00 p.m. at the Maxcy Gregg Tennis Center in Columbia, SC. That match will be a rematch as the Gamecocks lost to the Rams 5-2 earlier this year in Columbia. The winner will advance to the 2002 NCAA Division I Women’s Tennis Championships in Palo Alto, CA, hosted by Stanford University. -USC-