Sept. 29, 2006

GREENVILLE, S.C. — The South Carolina women’s tennis team opened its fall slate Friday in Greenville, S.C., at the Furman Fall Classic. The Gamecocks advanced two doubles teams to the championship matches of their respective flights and won four of six singles matches.

USC’s 37th-ranked duo of Gira Schofield and Natasa Vuckovic won 8-4 against Furman’s Jacqueline Eckert and Lauren Osborne in round one and then downed Liberty Sveke and Courtney Ulery from Vanderbilt 8-6 in the semifinals of Flight One. Schofield and Vuckovic take on the nation’s No. 8-rated tandem in Carol Salge and Federica van Adrichem of Clemson on Saturday at 9 a.m.

In Flight Three of doubles play, the Gamecocks’ Laura Ganzer and Miranda Gutierrez first defeated Wisconsin’s Chelsea Nusslock and Morgan Tuttle by an 8-2 score and then Dorothy Dohanics and Andrea Niculescu from Penn State 8-3. Ganzer and Gutierrez will challenge Tennessee’s Blakely Griffith and Zsofia Zubor for the title Saturday at 9 a.m.

Schofield, who is ranked No. 39 nationally in singles, posted a 6-4, 6-4 triumph against Meg Fanjoy from North Carolina in Flight One bracket of singles, while USC newcomer Ana Marija Zubori upended Nusslock 6-3, 6-0 in Flight Three. Christyn Lucas picked up a 6-1, 6-2 win for the Gamecocks in Flight Four over Jenny Shular from Penn State, and Ganzer snagged a three-set victory from Natasa Manojlovic of Furman 6-0, 0-6, 6-4.

Furman Fall Classic Results — Friday, Sept. 29

Flight One Singles
Gira Schofield, USC, def. Meg Fanjoy, UNC, 6-4, 6-4

Flight Two Singles
Kaylan Caiati, WI, def. Natasa Vuckovic, USC, 6-2, 6-4

Flight Three Singles
Ana Marija Zubori, USC, def. Chelsea Nusslock, WI, 6-3, 6-0

Flight Four Singles
Christyn Lucas, USC, def. Jenny Shular, PSU, 6-1, 6-2

Flight Five Singles
Laura Ganzer, USC, def. Natasa Manojlovic, FU, 6-0, 0-6, 6-4

Flight Six Singles
Zsofia Zubor, UT, def. Miranda Gutierrez, USC, 6-2, 6-2

Flight One Doubles
Schofield/Vuckovic, USC, def. Eckert/Osborne, FU, 8-4
Schofield/Vuckovic, USC, def. Sveke/Ulery, VU, 8-6

Flight Two Doubles
Schutte/Vogel, UT, def. Lucas/Zubori, USC, 8-1
Lucas/Zubori, USC, def. Blatt/Ferrell, VU, 8-2

Flight Three Doubles
Ganzer/Gutierrez, USC, def. Nusslock/Tuttle, WI, 8-2
Ganzer/Gutierrez, USC, def. Dohanics/Niculescu, PSU, 8-3

Key
FU=Furman, PSU=Penn State, UNC=North Carolina, USC=South Carolina, UT=Tennessee, VU=Vanderbilt, WI=Wisconsin