March 23, 2008
OXFORD, Miss. — South Carolina’s women’s tennis team earned its third victory in a row Sunday by a 4-3 margin against Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss. The Gamecocks improved to 10-5 overall and 3-3 in the SEC with the win while the Lady Rebels dipped to 4-12 and 0-6.
Carolina managed to steal the doubles point from the Lady Rebels. Megan McGavock and Suzanna Mansour won 8-6 for the Gamecocks at two doubles versus Mimi Renaudin and Laura van de Stroet, but the Ole Miss duo of Nika Koukhartchouk and Karen Nijssen topped Gira Schofield and Ana Marija Zubori 8-6 at the top position. At three, Lady Rebels Soledad Podlipnik and Preethi Subramanian led Jelena Rajic and Natasa Vuckovic 6-3, but the Gamecock tandem came back to win five games in row for the 8-6 win.
South Carolina did not waste any time taking a 3-0 advantage. McGavock won first over Renaudin at five singles 6-2, 6-2 and next to finish was Zubori, a 6-2, 6-4 winner versus Koukhartchouk at the No. 2 slot. Subramanian got Ole Miss on the board after she defeated Mansour 6-2, 6-3 on court four.
The remaining matches all required three sets and it was Vuckovic who finished first at three, upending van de Stroet 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to give the Gamecocks the victory. Schofield then withdrew from her match on court one due to a nagging shoulder injury. Nijssen won the first set 6-1, lost the second 6-3 and was ahead 4-3 in the third.
Rajic and Podlipnik stopped their match at No. 6 singles with the score tied 1-1 in the third. Rajic won the first 6-3 but Podlipnik took the second 6-4. Rajic withdrew from the match in an effort to help the team make its flight home.
The Gamecocks continue SEC play Friday when they host LSU at 2 p.m. at Maxcy Gregg Tennis Center. South Carolina then welcomes Arkansas to Columbia, S.C., for a 1 p.m. Sunday match.
#33 South Carolina (10-5, 3-3 SEC) def. Ole Miss (4-12, 0-6 SEC), 4-3
Singles
1. Karen Nijssen, OM, def. #44 Gira Schofield, USC, 6-1, 3-6, 4-3 ret.
2. #75 Ana Marija Zubori, USC, def. Nika Koukhartchouk, OM, 6-2, 6-4
3. Natasa Vuckovic, USC, def. Laura van de Stroet, OM, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
4. Preethi Subramanian, OM, def. Suzanna Mansour, USC, 6-2, 6-3
5. Megan McGavock, USC, def. Mimi Renaudin, OM, 6-2, 6-2
6. Soledad Podlipnik, OM, def. Jelena Rajic, USC, 3-6, 6-4, 1-1 wd.
Order of Finish: 5, 2, 4, 3, 1, 6
Doubles
1. #42 Koukhartchouk/Nijssen, OM, def. #33 Schofield/Zubori, USC, 8-6
2. McGavock/Mansour, USC, def. Renaudin/van de Stroet, OM, 8-6
3. Rajic/Vuckovic, USC, def. Podlipnik/Subramanian, OM, 8-6
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
