Feb. 19, 2010

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The No. 24 South Carolina women’s tennis team will host in-state rival and No. 13-ranked Clemson on Sunday at Maxcy Gregg Tennis Center on Blossom Street at 1 p.m.

South Carolina (2-2) is coming off a dominating performance against Winthrop in which it defeated the Eagles 7-0 at the USC Field House. The Gamecocks swept doubles before winning five of the six singles matches in straights. Dijana Stojic won her match at No. 2 singles in a super tiebreaker in the third set.

The Tigers (9-2) competed in the ITA National Team Indoors in Madison, Wis., last week and posted a 1-2 record at the event. They began with a 5-2 loss to Southern California but bounced back 6-1 over Wisconsin. Clemson dropped its final match 5-2 to Michigan, a team the Gamecocks also lost to earlier in the season.

The all-time series between the two rival schools is an even 22-22 heading into Sunday’s match. The Tigers have had more success in recent years in the rivalry, winning seven of the past eight meetings. The Gamecocks one victory in those eight meetings came in 2006 by a 4-3 count in Columbia at the Field House.

The latest ITA individual rankings released Thursday have two Gamecocks and three Tigers ranked among the top 100 in singles. Ana Marija Zubori from South Carolina is 66th, while teammate Anya Morgina is 82nd. For Clemson, Josipa Bek tops the Tigers lineup at No. 18, followed by Keri Wong (65th) and Nelly Ciolkowski (90th).

In doubles, the Clemson duo of Bek and Ina Hadziselimovic are ranked No. 19, and Hadziselimovic and Wong also comprise the No. 21 tandem in the nation. South Carolina currently has no ranked doubles teams.