March 9, 2008

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The South Carolina women’s tennis team dropped a 4-3 decision to No. 17 Tennessee on Sunday in Knoxville, Tenn. The Gamecocks fell to 7-4 overall and 1-3 in the Southeastern Conference while the Lady Volunteers improved to 9-3 and 3-1 in the league.

Carolina lost the doubles point for the second consecutive match and it proved to be the difference in the contest. Jennifer Meredith and Connor Vogel defeated Suzanna Mansour and Megan McGavock 8-5 on court three for UT’s first win, and Rosalia Alda and Ghizela Schutte clinched the point with an 8-3 victory over Miljana Jocic and Natasa Vuckovic at two doubles. The Lady Vols made it a clean sweep with No. 7 Caitlin Whoriskey and Zsofia Zubor’s 8-5 triumph against No. 19 Gira Schofield and Ana Marija Zubori at the top slot.

The Gamecocks charged back in singles, winning the top three positions. Zubori evened the score after she disposed of Schutte 6-0, 6-0 at the No. 2 spot and Vuckovic put South Carolina ahead 2-1 after beating Zubor 6-2, 6-2 on court three.

Tennessee answered with its second point that came courtesy of Vogel’s 6-2, 6-2 victory over Jelena Rajic at No. 6 singles. The Gamecocks responded with Schofield’s 6-1, 6-4 win against Whoriskey at one singles to retake the lead 3-2.

Samantha Orlin tied the score once again by upending Jocic 7-6, 6-1 at four singles. The deciding match on court five saw McGavock win the first set against Meredith 6-3 and later take a 4-1 advantage in the second. Meredith, however, managed to fight back and eventually won the second set 7-5 and then downed McGavock 6-1 in the third to give the Lady Vols the victory.

The Gamecocks will take a break from SEC play next week when they play at BYU and Utah on Thursday and Saturday.

#17 Tennessee (9-3, 3-1 SEC) def. #29 South Carolina (7-4, 1-3 SEC), 4-3

Singles
1. #23 Gira Schofield, USC, def. #61 Caitlin Whoriskey, UT, 6-1, 6-4
2. #69 Ana Marija Zubori, USC, def. Ghizela Schutte, UT, 6-0, 6-0
3. Natasa Vuckovic, USC, def. Zsofia Zubor, UT, 6-2, 6-2
4. Samantha Orlin, UT, def. Miljana Jocic, USC, 7-6, 6-1
5. Jennifer Meredith, UT, def. Megan McGavock, USC, 3-6, 7-5, 6-1
6. Connor Vogel, UT, def. Jelena Rajic, USC, 6-2, 6-2

Order of Finish: 2, 3, 6, 1, 4, 5

Doubles
1. #7 Whoriskey/Zubor, UT, def. #19 Schofield/Zubori, USC, 8-5
2. Rosalia Alda/Schutte, UT, def. Jocic/Vuckovic, USC, 8-3
3. Meredith/Vogel, UT, def. Suzanna Mansour/McGavock, USC, 8-5

Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1