April 2, 2010

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The No. 19 South Carolina women’s tennis team (13-4, 6-1 SEC) coasted to its fifth consecutive win Friday in Columbia, S.C., at Maxcy Gregg Tennis Center with a 7-0 victory over Kentucky (2-15, 0-7 SEC).

South Carolina took the doubles point with wins on courts one and three. Adriana Pereira and Anya Morgina won first at three with an 8-1 triumph over Elle Coldiron and Nicole Scates. The Gamecocks’ 24th-ranked combo of Ana Marija Zubori and Dijana Stojic battled their way to an 8-6 win against Caroline Lilley and Minnette Pienaar on court one to secure the point.

At No. 2 doubles, Carolina’s Miljana Jocic and Rita Maisak trailed 6-1 to Megan Broderick and Christine Johnston, but the Gamecocks fought back to make it 6-5. The Wildcats then went ahead 7-5, but Jocic and Maisak countered by winning the next two games to make it 7-all. With the point decided, the two teams played a tiebreaker to decide the match, and Lilley and Broderick came out on top 7-4.

The Gamecocks swept all six positions in singles with two of the matches going to three sets. Pereira won first at the No. 5 spot, downing Coldiron 6-1, 6-0 to improve to 19-8 on the season and 11-3 in dual matches. Maisak won soon afterward 6-0, 6-2 over Scates on court six to make the score 3-0, and Zubori provided the clinching point at No. 1 singles with a 6-2, 6-2 triumph over Broderick for her fifth win in a row. Zubori is now 22-10 on the season and 10-7 at the top singles position.

Jocic recorded her 24th singles victory of the season with a 6-4, 6-2 decision at No. 4 singles against Pienaar and improved to 13-2 this spring in the process. Jocic has the team’s best record in singles at 24-5.

Morgina needed three sets in her match with Johnston on court three. After losing the first set 6-4, Morgina bounced back with a 6-3 win in the second. After getting down early in a super tiebreaker to decide the third set, Morgina managed to pull out a 10-8 win to up her record to 14-3 this spring at No. 3 singles and 19-7 overall.

The final match on court came down to Stojic and Lilley at the No. 2 spot. Stojic got down 3-0 in the first but came back to win six of the next seven games for a 6-4 win. Lilley grabbed the second set in a tiebreaker 7-3, but Stojic was too much in the super tiebreaker, taking the match 10-5. Stojic is 14-3 this year at the second singles position and 18-12 overall.

The Gamecocks will host No. 24 Vanderbilt on Sunday at 1 p.m.

#19 South Carolina (13-4, 6-1 SEC) def. Kentucky (2-15, 0-7 SEC), 7-0

Singles
1. #75 Ana Marija Zubori, USC, def. #98 Megan Broderick, UK, 6-2, 6-2
2. Dijana Stojic, USC, def. Caroline Lilley, UK, 6-4, 6-7(3), (10-5)
3. #107 Anya Morgina, USC, def. Christine Johnston, UK, 4-6, 6-3, (10-8)
4. Miljana Jocic, USC, def. Minnette Pienaar, UK, 6-4, 6-2
5. Adriana Pereira, USC, def. Elle Coldiron, UK, 6-1, 6-0
6. Rita Maisak, USC, def. Nicole Scates, UK, 6-0, 6-2

Order of Finish: 5, 6, 1, 4, 3, 2

Doubles
1. #24 Stojic/Zubori, USC, def. Lilley/Pienaar, UK, 8-6
2. Broderick/Johnston, UK, def. Jocic/Maisak, USC, 8-7(4)
3. Morgina/Pereira, USC, def. Coldiron/Scates, UK, 8-1

Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2