Sept. 26, 2009

GREENVILLE, S.C. — The South Carolina women’s tennis team recorded several victories on the first day of the Furman Fall Classic on Friday in Greenville, S.C.

Miljana Jocic had an easy win against Susan Bitetti from Furman 6-3, 6-0 in her first match and then defeated Rosalia Alda of Tennessee 6-4, 7-5 in the semifinals of flight five. Jocic fell behind 4-1 in the second set before charging back to win six of the next seven games to improve to 8-1 this fall.

Freshman Madeleine Saari-Byström appeared in her first tournament as a Gamecock and after falling 6-3, 6-3 to Chelsea Preeg from Vanderbilt in her first match in flight three, she recovered to upend Stacey Lee of Northwestern 6-4, 6-3. Saari-Byström got behind 3-0 in the first set before winning it and took a 3-0 lead of her own in the second.

Josefin Andersson and Adriana Pereira split matches playing flights four and six. Andersson lost her opening-round match to Lauren Macfarlane of Florida State 6-4, 6-1 but recovered with a 7-5, 7-6(3) triumph over Estefania Balda from Clemson. Pereira won her first match 6-4, 6-4 over Heather Steinbauer of Vanderbilt but fell 6-4, 6-3 in her second match with Clemson’s Nelly Ciolkowski.

Anya Morgina and Dijana Stojic both took a couple of losses on the day in flights one and two. Morgina faced the nation’s No. 1-ranked player, Maria Mosolova of Northwestern, in her first match and fell by a 6-3, 6-4 count. She lost a 6-2, 6-0 decision to No. 64 Monica Arguello from Furman in the second. Stojic dropped a 6-3, 7-6(4) match to No. 34 Katrina Tsang of North Carolina and then fell 7-6(8), 6-4 against Furman’s Lauren Kline.

In doubles, Jocic and Pereira recorded an 8-2 victory over Durisic and Mabrey of North Carolina in flight three. In the top flight, Saari-Byström and Morgina lost 8-0 to Northwestern’s Wowchuk and Chernyakova, while Andersson and Stojic dropped their match with Wong and Magnusson from Clemson 8-4 in flight two.

Two rounds of doubles are scheduled for the Furman Fall Classic on Saturday beginning at 9 a.m.

Singles
#1 Maria Mosolova, NU, def. Anya Morgina, USC, 6-3, 6-4 (Flight 1)
#64 Monica Arguello, FU, def. Anya Morgina, USC, 6-2, 6-0 (Flight 1)
#34 Katrina Tsang, UNC, def #114 Dijana Stojic, USC, 6-3, 7-6(4) (Flight 2)
Lauren Kline, FU, def. #114 Dijana Stojic, USC, 7-6(8), 6-4 (Flight 2)
Chelsea Preeg, VU, def. Madeleine Saari-Byström, USC, 6-3, 6-3 (Flight 3)
Madeleine Saari-Byström, USC, def. Stacey Lee, NU, 6-4, 6-3 (Flight 3)
#93 Lauren Macfarlane, FSU, def. Josefin Andersson, USC, 6-4, 6-1 (Flight 4)
Josefin Andersson, USC, def. Estefania Balda, CU, 7-5, 7-6(3) (Flight 4)
Miljana Jocic, USC, def. Susan Bitetti, FU, 6-3, 6-0 (Flight 5)
Miljana Jocic, USC, def. Rosalia Alda, UT, 6-4, 7-5 (Flight 5)
Adriana Pereira, USC, def. Heather Steinbauer, VU, 6-4, 6-4 (Flight 6)
Nelly Ciolkowski, CU, def. Adriana Pereira, USC, 6-4, 6-3 (Flight 6)

Doubles
Wowchuk/Chernyakova, NU, def. Morgina/Saari-Byström, USC, 8-0 (Flight 1)
Wong/Magnusson, CU, def. Andersson/Stojic, USC, 8-4 (Flight 2)
Jocic/Pereira, USC, def. Durisic/Mabrey, UNC, 8-2 (Flight 3)