March 11, 2007

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — South Carolina’s 53rd-ranked women’s tennis team clipped No. 16 Tennessee 4-2 on Sunday in Knoxville, Tenn., for just its second all-time win on the Lady Vols’ home courts. The Gamecocks upped their record to 9-3 and 3-1 in the SEC while UT slipped to 6-5 and 1-3.

South Carolina picked up the doubles point by winning at the first two positions. At one, Gira Schofield and Ana Marija Zubori combined for an 8-2 victory against Connor Vogel and Caitlin Whoriskey. Christyn Lucas and Natasa Vuckovic clinched the 1-0 lead for USC by downing Blakeley Griffith and Samantha Orlin 8-4. The Lady Vols won the No. 3 doubles match with Vicky Jones and Zsofia Zubor taking out Laura Ganzer and Megan McGavock 8-2.

Vuckovic made the score 2-0 in favor of the Gamecocks with her 6-2, 7-5 victory over Orlin on court 4, but Jones countered for Tennessee at the No. 5 slot by upending McGavock 6-4, 6-3. Griffith tied the match when she beat Schofield 6-3, 7-5 at the top of the lineup.

The final three matches on court all went three sets, with South Carolina claiming the first. At No. 3 singles, Zubori won the first set against Whoriskey 6-2 and the third 6-4 after dropping the second 7-5 to improve to 22-4. Zubori actually trailed 4-1 in the third set before running off fives games in a row.

Carolina’s Laura Ganzer managed to put the match in the books at No. 6 singles. She snatched the first set 6-4 and recovered from a 6-0 defeat in the second to win 6-4 in the third stanza. The remaining match at the second position between Vanessa Pinto and Vogel was suspended in the third set tied at 3-3 after Ganzer clinched the team win.

“This is a good win,” South Carolina coach Arlo Elkins said. “We’ve been pretty beat up with some illnesses and injuries and despite all that we were able to win against the No. 16 team in the country. If we can get all of our injuries and illnesses behind us we’ll be able to move forward in the tougher portion of our schedule.”

The Gamecocks will take a break from SEC play next week, first traveling to Charleston, S.C., to face College of Charleston on Thursday at 5 p.m. South Carolina returns home Saturday to play Troy at 1:30 p.m. at Maxcy Gregg Tennis Center.

#53 South Carolina (9-3, 3-1 SEC) def. #16 Tennessee (6-5, 1-3 SEC), 4-2

Singles
1. #22 Blakeley Griffith, UT, def. #119 Gira Schofield, USC, 6-3, 7-5
2. #102 Vanessa Pinto, USC, vs. Connor Vogel, UT, 6-2, 6-7, 3-3 DNF
3. Ana Marija Zubori, USC, def. Caitlin Whoriskey, UT, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4
4. Natasa Vuckovic, USC, def. Samantha Orlin, UT, 6-2, 7-5
5. Vicky Jones, UT, def. Megan McGavock, USC, 6-4, 6-3
6. Laura Ganzer, USC, def. Zsofia Zubor, UT, 6-4, 0-6, 6-4

Order of finish: 4, 5, 1, 3, 5

Doubles
1. #28 Schofield/Zubori, USC, def. Vogel/Whoriskey, UT, 8-2
2. Christyn Lucas/Vuckovic, USC, def. Griffith/Orlin, UT, 8-4
3. Jones/Zubor, UT, def. Ganzer/McGavock, USC, 8-2

Order of finish: 1, 3, 2