March 2, 2005
Columbia, S.C. – The University of South Carolina women’s tennis team will open their 2005 SEC schedule on Friday against Arkansas in Fayetteville and then will travel to Baton Rouge for a Sunday match against the LSU Tigers. The Gamecocks have won three straight opening round matches with their last loss coming in the 2001 season on February 24 against the Florida Gators.
The Gamecocks head into Fayetteville with a 14-2 mark all-time against the Razorbacks. USC has won five in a row and six of the last seven against Arkansas. USC will enter Friday’s match with a perfect 5-0 record and ranked 26th in the country while the Razorbacks are ranked 50th in the country with a 10-0 mark. After playing Arkansas on Friday, the Gamecocks will then travel to Baton Rouge to face the LSU Tigers on Sunday.
The Tigers will open their 2005 conference schedule on Friday at home against the #2 ranked Florida Gators. The 43rd ranked Tigers enter their match on Friday with a 6-2 mark overall. The Gamecocks will take a 14-1 mark into Sundays match against the Tigers and have won 14 straight. The last loss against the LSU Tigers came in the 1985 season where LSU edged Carolina 5-4.
After opening up conference play on Friday and Sunday this weekend on the road, USC will host two straight matches. USC will host 24th ranked BYU at noon on Tuesday, March 8th and then will host 7th ranked Kentucky on Friday, March 11th at 2:00 p.m. in SEC action. Live scoring will be available on USC’s website: www.uscsports.com for matches played at the Maxcy Gregg Tennis Facility in Columbia.
Gamecock Notes: – USC is currently ranked 26th in ITA Tennis Rankings. The rankings were released on March 1st. The Gamecocks are 11 points behind 25th place Indiana. If USC makes it in the top 25 it will be their first top 25 ranking since being ranked as high as 16 in 2003.
– The Gamecocks have won the doubles point in three consecutive matches after dropping it in the first two of the season.
– Carolina is 5-0 at No. 2, 4, and 6 singles on the season.
– Sophomore Laura Ganzer, and junior Justine Walsh are both perfect on the dual match season. Ganzer is 5-0 while Walsh is 4-0. Ganzer played four of the five matches at two singles while Walsh has played all four of her battles at six.
– USC has won three straight SEC openers. The last loss was against Florida on February 24 in Gainesville.
– USC is 79-66 in the SEC since joining the conference in 1992.
– USC is 1-0 this season on the road. Their only road match this year was against Furman in Greenville on February 2nd.
– Since the 2000 season, the Gamecocks have won 27 of 30 matches against SEC West opponents in regular season contest. USC dropped regular season matches to Alabama in 2003 and 2004 and to Mississippi in 2000.
