April 17, 2007

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Three members of the University of South Carolina women’s tennis team were named to the All-SEC Teams, the league office announced Tuesday. It tied for the most honorees in one year for the Gamecocks, with the other occurrence coming in 1994.

Sophomore Gira Schofield made the All-SEC First Team, making her only the second Gamecock in history to achieve first-team status. The first was Lynn-Yin Tan in 1999. Schofield, who was a second-team member as a freshman, is currently ranked No. 63 in the nation for singles. She went 17-13 overall and was 13-7 playing the No. 1 singles position in dual matches. During SEC play, Schofield was 6-5, and she was 19-13 in doubles and 11-8 in dual competition at the top slot.

Sophomore Natasa Vuckovic earned second-team honors for the second year in a row. She led the Gamecocks in dual-match singles victories with a 17-3 slate and went 21-6 overall. At one point during the spring, Vuckovic won 11 matches in a row. She was equally successful in doubles, posting a 20-8 overall record that included a 16-4 slate in duals. In SEC matches, the Novi Sad, Serbia, native went 9-1 for singles and 7-3 in doubles contests.

Rookie Ana Marija Zubori joined Vuckovic on the second team after going 29-6 in singles play this season. Her 29 victories led the team and is the most since Tracy Kotseos piled up 30 in 1994-95. A holder of dual citizenship from Serbia and France, Zubori went 16-3 in dual matches and 8-3 against the SEC. She had a 21-11 record for doubles and was 11-8 in duals at the top position with Schofield. Zubori is currently ranked No. 83 in the nation for singles and is 38th in doubles.

Schofield, Vuckovic, Zubori and the rest of the Gamecocks begin play in the SEC Tournament on Friday at Boone Tennis Complex in Lexington, Ky. South Carolina is seeded fourth and owns a first-round bye and takes on the winner of No. 5 Tennessee and No. 12 Alabama at 1 p.m.