March 28, 2010

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The No. 20 South Carolina women’s tennis team (12-4, 5-1 SEC) picked up its fourth straight victory Sunday, defeating No. 57 Mississippi State (9-7, 1-5 SEC) in Columbia, S.C.

South Carolina got off to a slow start in doubles, falling behind 4-1 on both courts two and three. Miljana Jocic and Rita Maisak were unable to come back against the Bulldogs’ Oleysa Tsigvintseva and Natalia Mayuk at two, falling 8-3. Less than 30 seconds after their loss, Adriana Pereira and Anya Morgina fought back from the 4-1 deficit to Valeriya Makarycheva and Mariia Ryzhova to win 8-5 at the No. 3 position. Ana Marija Zubori and Dijana Stojic clinched the point for the Gamecocks by upending Radka Ferancova and Danielle Terpko 8-4 on court one.

After the first few games of singles were played, a thunderstorm moved play to the USC Field House. Once play resumed, the Gamecocks wasted no time putting the match away. Stojic won first against Tsigvintseva on court two 6-1, 6-0 to improve to 13-3 this spring at No. 2 singles. Morgina upped her spring record to 13-3 as well at No. 3 singles after defeating Mayuk 7-5, 6-1 to make the score 3-0. Pereira clinched the match for Carolina with a 6-3, 6-1 decision over Makarycheva on court four.

Zubori had a 5-3 lead in the second set over Ferancova after winning the first set 6-4 once Pereira scored South Carolina’s fourth point. Ferancova closed the margin to 5-4, but Zubori grabbed the next game to make the final score 5-0 and earned her fourth victory in a row.

Jocic had a 2-0 lead on Ryzhova at No. 5 singles before play was suspended outside, and Terpko led Maisak 2-1 at the sixth spot. With the match quickly decided on the Field House’s four courts and the Bulldogs facing a lengthy bus ride back to Starkville, Miss., play at the bottom two spots never resumed.

The Gamecocks return to SEC play Friday hosting Kentucky at 2 p.m. at Maxcy Gregg Tennis Center.

#20 South Carolina (12-4, 5-1 SEC) def. #57 Mississippi State (9-7, 1-5 SEC), 5-0

Singles
1. #92 Ana Marija Zubori, USC, def. Radka Ferancova, MSU, 6-4, 6-4
2. Dijana Stojic, USC, def. Olesya Tsigvintseva, MSU, 6-1, 6-0
3. Anya Morgina, USC, def. Natalia Mayuk, MSU, 7-5, 6-1
4. Adriana Pereira, USC, def. Valeriya Makarycheva, MSU, 6-3, 6-1
5. Miljana Jocic, USC, vs. Mariia Ryzhova, MSU, 2-0 suspended
6. Rita Maisak, USC, vs. Danielle Terpko, MSU, 1-2 suspended

Order of Finish: 2, 3, 4, 1

Doubles
1. #20 Stojic/Zubori, USC, def. Ferancova/Terpko, MSU, 8-4
2. Tsigvintseva/Mayuk, MSU, def. Jocic/Maisak, USC, 8-3
3. Morgina/Pereira, USC, def. Makarycheva/Ryzhova, MSU, 8-5

Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1