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March 8, 2007

Match Notes in PDF Format
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ON TAP THIS WEEK: The South Carolina women’s tennis team continues Southeastern Conference play Friday when it takes on third-ranked Georgia in Athens, Ga., at 2:30 p.m. Another challenging road match awaits the Gamecocks on Sunday when they face No. 16 Tennessee at 1 p.m.

VERSUS THE OPPOSITION:
Georgia
Overall: 9-27
Home: 4-11
Away: 2-9
Neutral: 1-6
Last: L, 1-6, H, 2006
Streak: UG, 6 wins
Tennessee
Overall: 9-15
Home: 6-6
Away: 1-6
Neutral: 1-3
Last: L, 3-4, H, 2006
Streak: UT, 4 wins
Note: Historical records do not list locations for some matches.

ABOUT GEORGIA: The first computer rankings released this season Tuesday saw the Georgia Bulldogs catapult to the No. 3 spot with an undefeated 9-0 record. Georgia has defeated Georgia Tech and Clemson, both among the current top 10, as well as top-25 squads Baylor and Texas A&M. The Bulldogs won 5-2 in their last match at LSU after beating Arkansas 6-1 to start 2-0 in the SEC. Georgia has four ranked players in singles with Natalie Frazier (10), Darya Ivanov (42), Monika Dancevic (50) and Yvette Hyndman (60). Ivanov and Hyndman are 15th in doubles, and Hyndman holds a No. 39 rating with Dancevic as well.

ABOUT TENNESSEE: Tennessee is ranked 16th in the ITA’s current poll and stands 6-3 overall this season. The Lady Volunteers suffered a 5-2 loss at LSU in their first league match but recovered by defeating Arkansas 4-3. Two of UT’s three losses have come against teams in the top 15 with Wake Forest and North Carolina. All but one of UT’s victories has come against a team currently in the top 50. The Lady Vols have one player ranked in singles with senior Blakeley Griffith sitting at No. 22.

SOUTH CAROLINA’S LAST MATCH: South Carolina’s women’s tennis team coasted to its third consecutive victory Sunday, defeating Mississippi 7-0 at Maxcy Gregg Tennis Center in Columbia, S.C. The Gamecocks improved to 8-2 on the season and 2-0 in the SEC, while the Lady Rebels fell to 4-7 and 0-1 in league play. Christyn Lucas and Natasa Vuckovic set the tone early in doubles with an 8-0 victory against Carlin Cochran and Soledad Podlipnik at the second position. Gira Schofield and Ana Marija Zubori clinched the doubles point for Carolina when they disposed of Ilona Somers and Kseniia Tokarieva 8-3 at the top slot. The remaining match on court 3 saw Laura Ganzer and Vanessa Pinto complete the doubles sweep with an 8-6 triumph over Nika Koukhartchouk and Preethi Subramanian. Pinto pushed South Carolina’s lead to 2-0 when Tokarieva retired in the second set with an injury. Pinto won the first set 6-0 and was leading 2-1 at the changeover when her opponent conceded the match. The victory increased Pinto’s record to 4-0 this year at No. 2 singles. Megan McGavock was next to finish for the Gamecocks, downing Cochran 6-0, 6-2 at six singles. McGavock won the first nine games of the match before Cochran got on the board. It was McGavock’s 10th victory of the 2006-07 season. Two minutes after McGavock left the court, Lucas secured South Carolina’s third consecutive win with a 6-0, 6-0 decision over Subramanian at five. Zubori finished next by recording a 6-0, 6-3 victory against Koukhartchouk on court 3, and Vuckovic followed with her 6-2, 7-5 win over Podlipnik at the fourth spot. At the No. 1 singles position, Schofield fell behind 3-0 in the first set to Somers, but came back to win six of the next seven games to claim the set 6-4. The two players stayed on serve until Schofield recovered from a 30-love deficit in the ninth game with Somers serving to go ahead 5-4. Schofield cruised in the ensuing game, hitting multiple winners to close out the match.

ZUBORI STILL CRUISING: Freshman Ana Marija Zubori was nearly untouchable leading up to South Carolina’s first weekend of SEC play. She had a streak of 38 consecutive games won when she took on Mississippi State’s Elna de Villiers. Zubori had her streak snapped in the first game, but went on to win the next 11 en route to a 6-1, 6-1 win. Zubori has claimed 20 straight sets dating back to November. Overall for the year, Zubori is 21-3 in singles play and 11-0 against regional opponents.

SCHOFIELD SCORES A BIG WIN: Gira Schofield scored her best victory of the year so far when she defeated No. 28-ranked Kellie Schmitt of Marshall 6-4, 6-2 on Feb. 28. Schmitt is the third-highest ranked player the sophomore has defeated in her career, as Schofield beat foes rated 12th and 15th a year ago. She finished the week with a 3-0 record at the top spot after taking out opponents from Mississippi and Mississippi State in straight sets.

WHAT IT TAKES TO BE ALL-AMERICA: All-America teams are awarded in tennis for singles and doubles play. No voting takes place, so the teams are decided based on the following criteria:

Singles
1. Top 16 seed in NCAA Singles Tourney, or
2. Reach round of 16 in NCAA Singles Tourney, or
3. Finish in top 20 of final ITA rankings

Doubles
1. Top eight seed in NCAA Doubles Tourney, or
2. Reach quarters of NCAA Doubles Tourney, or
3. Finish in top 10 of final ITA rankings

GAMECOCKS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: South Carolina made its 12th-straight appearance in NCAA play in 2006 and its 16th overall. USC is 15-16 in the tournament. The Gamecocks appeared in the first two tournaments in 1982 and 1983 and reached the quarterfinals in ’82, which remains the best showing in school history. The Gamecocks have reached the Sweet 16 five times, with their last appearance coming in 1999. In addition to USC making the NCAA field 12 times in a row, the school has won 12 of its past 13 first-round matches.

IN THE RANKINGS: South Carolina is currently ranked 53rd in the latest ITA rankings, which were determined using a computer average for the first time this year. Individually, sophomore Gira Schofield and freshman Ana Marija Zubori are rated No. 28 as a doubles team, up 13 spots from their previous ranking. Schofield also is 119th in singles, and newcomer Vanessa Pinto is 102nd. Pinto is No. 44 in doubles as well with Laura Ganzer.

IT’S ALL ABOUT CONSISTENCY: South Carolina extended its streak of consecutive NCAA appearances to 12 in 2006, which stands as the 11th longest active streak in the country.

NCAA TEAM HISTORY: The Gamecocks have appeared in NCAAs 16 times in the event’s 25-year existence. USC’s best showing came in the first NCAA Championship in 1982 when it reached the quarterfinals after defeating Florida. South Carolina has made a total of five Sweet 16 appearances with the last coming in 1999. USC has made the tournament field 12 consecutive times and gone to at least the second round 12 times in a row.

NCAA INDIVIDUAL HISTORY: South Carolina has placed either a singles competitor or doubles team in 19 of 25 NCAA Individual Tennis Championships. Laura Berstein remains the only Gamecock to advance to the round of 16 in singles, doing so in 1983 in Albuquerque, N.M. In doubles, Helen Crook and Victoria Davies are the only USC duo to go as far as the semifinals, which happened in 1994 in Athens, Ga. Last year, Gira Schofield became just the second USC freshman to compete in the NCAA Singles Championship.