March 13, 2009
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The No. 22 South Carolina women’s tennis team suffered a 5-2 setback against No. 15 Tennessee on Friday in Columbia, S.C., to fall to 7-5 and 1-2 in the SEC. UT improved to 9-1 and 3-0 in the league.
Rosalia Alda and Zsofia Zubor got things started for Tennessee with an 8-0 victory against Miljana Jocic and Ashley Miller at No. 3 doubles. At one, the Gamecocks’ Natasa Vuckovic and Ana Marija Zubori held a 4-1 lead on Natalie Pluskota and Caitlin Whoriskey, but the two charged back to win and clinch the doubles point by an 8-6 score. The Lady Vols then won at No. 2 doubles with Samantha Orlin and Maria Sorbello topping Gira Schofield and Dijana Stojic 8-6.
Zubori tied the score 1-all after winning easily at No. 2 singles over Pluskota 6-1, 6-2. Zubori improved to 11-1 on the spring with the victory and stands at 19-3 for the 2008-09 campaign.
Whoriskey managed to defeat Schofield at one singles to give Tennessee its second point, winning 6-3, 7-5. Whoriskey went up 4-1 in the first before Schofield closed the margin to 4-3. After holding on to win the first, Whoriskey fell behind 5-3 in the second set before winning four straight games to hand Schofield just her second loss this spring.
Vuckovic trailed for much of the first set against Alda at No. 4 singles, but she continued to fight and claw her way back into match. After being down 5-4 and 6-5, Vuckovic forced a tiebreaker and then found herself down 4-1 in the breaker. After regrouping, Vuckovic won six of the next seven rallies to win 7-5. In the second, Vuckovic took a 4-2 lead before surrendering two games to Alda to make it 4-all. Vuckovic then pulled out the next two games to make the team score 2-2.
Orlin moved the Lady Vols to within a point of clinching the match after she battled to a 6-4, 6-4 triumph over Stojic at the third spot. Orlin led 5-2 in the second before Stojic won two straight to stay in the contest. The 10th game lasted over 20 minutes with Orlin serving and each player earned her fair share of opportunities to win it.
Jennifer Meredith provided the clincher for Tennessee at the No. 5 singles slot. After taking the first set 6-1 from Jocic, Meredith won the second by the same score, as her slices and changes in pace with the ball continued to frustrate Jocic.
With the match decided and the No. 6 singles match between Miller and Zubor just a few games old, the coaches for both teams agreed to play it as an eight-game pro set. Zubor went ahead 7-2 before Miller snagged two straight to close the gap. Zubor, though, hung on for the 8-4 victory to give Tennessee its final point.
South Carolina will look to bounce back against No. 2 Georgia on Sunday when it hosts the Bulldogs at 1 p.m.
#15 Tennessee (9-1, 3-0 SEC) def. #22 South Carolina (7-5, 1-2 SEC), 5-2
Singles
1. #57 Caitlin Whoriskey, UT, def. #33 Gira Schofield, USC, 6-3, 7-5
2. #49 Ana Marija Zubori, USC, def. Natalie Pluskota, UT, 6-1, 6-2
3. Samantha Orlin, UT, def. Dijana Stojic, USC, 6-4, 6-4
4. Natasa Vuckovic, USC, def. Rosalia Alda, UT, 7-6(5), 6-4
5. Jennifer Meredith, UT, def. Miljana Jocic, USC, 6-1, 6-1
6. Zsofia Zubor, UT, def. Ashley Miller, USC, 8-4
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6
Doubles
1. Pluskota/Whoriskey, UT, def. #45 Vuckovic/Zubori, USC, 8-6
2. Orlin/Maria Sorbello, UT, def. Schofield/Stojic, USC, 8-6
3. Alda/Zubor, UT, def. Jocic/Miller, USC, 8-0
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
