May 23, 2006

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina freshman Gira Schofield will begin play in the 64-player NCAA Women’s Tennis Singles Championship on Wednesday. Stanford is hosting the event at the Taube Tennis Center in Stanford, Calif.

Schofield will face 57th-ranked junior Anna Lubinsky from Texas A&M in the first round at 5:30 p.m. PDT. It is the first career meeting between the two.

The Boca Raton, Fla, native Schofield is currently ranked No. 48 in the country and in addition to making the All-SEC Second Team in April, she was named the Southeastern Conference’s Co-Freshman of the Year. She also took home ITA Southeast Region Rookie of the Year honors. Schofield went 25-10 overall in singles and was 14-7 in dual matches playing exclusively at the No. 1 position.

Schofield is the 13th Gamecock to compete in the NCAA Singles Championship and just the second to do so as a freshman. Laura Bernstein is the only player in school history to advance to the round of 16, doing so in 1983.

Click HERE for live scoring of the match.