April 9, 2010

ATHENS, Ga. — The 15th-ranked South Carolina women’s tennis team (14-5, 7-2 SEC) had their six-match unbeaten streak snapped Friday night in Athens, Ga., by No. 14 Georgia (12-5, 8-1 SEC) by a 4-3 score.

The doubles point went to Georgia with the Bulldogs sweeping all three positions. The Bulldogs’ second team of Cameron Ellis and Yvette Hyndman won first by defeating Miljana Jocic and Madeleine Saari-Byström 8-1. Lara Fakhoury and Naoko Ueshima provided the clinching point on court three with an 8-2 win against Anya Morgina and Adriana Pereira. Georgia’s 10th-ranked duo of Chelsey Gullickson and Nadja Gilchrist recorded an 8-5 triumph over No. 24 Ana Marija Zubori and Dijana Stojic to finish doubles.

Gilchrist added to Georgia’s point total with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Stojic at the second singles position to make the score 2-0 in favor of the Bulldogs. Saari-Byström answered for South Carolina at No. 6 with a 6-2, 6-3 decision against Fakhoury. The Bullogs countered with Hyndman coming back to defeat Morgina 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 at No. 3 singles, but the Gamecocks got their own come-from-behind win at five singles with Pereira topping Ellis 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 to make it 3-2 for Georgia.

The No. 1 singles match between Zubori and Gullickson decided the match. Zubori took the first set from the 10th-ranked Gullickson 7-5 and she held leads of 4-1 and 5-3 in the second set. Gullickson, though, managed to come back and win the set 7-5 to force a third. Gullickson got up 5-3 with Zubori serving in the third set and had one match point, but Zubori fought it off to make it 5-4. In the 10th game, Zubori got up 0-40 on Gullickson’s serve, but Gullickson came back to make it deuce. On her fourth match point of the night, Gullickson was able to put the match away for a 6-4 win in the third.

With the score at 4-2 for Georgia, the remaining match at No. 4 singles between Jocic and Ueshima had just finished the first game of the third set. Jocic took the first set 7-6(4), while Ueshima grabbed the second 6-4. In the third, Jocic raced ahead 4-1 and held on for a 6-3 victory to improve to 26-5 on the season and 8-1 in SEC matches.

The Gamecocks will return to action Sunday in Knoxville, Tenn., when they take on No. 16 Tennessee at 1 p.m.

#14 Georgia (12-5, 8-1 SEC) def. #15 South Carolina (14-5, 7-2 SEC), 4-3

Singles
1. #10 Chelsey Gullickson, UG, def. #75 Ana Marija Zubori, USC, 5-7, 7-5, 6-4
2. #29 Nadja Gilchrist, UG, def. Dijana Stojic, USC, 6-2, 6-2
3. Yvette Hyndman, UG, def. #107 Anya Morgina, USC, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1
4. Miljana Jocic, USC, def. Naoko Ueshima, UG, 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-3
5. Adriana Pereira, USC, def. Cameron Ellis, UG, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
6. Madeleine Saari-Byström, USC, def. Lara Fakhoury, UG, 6-2, 6-3

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

Doubles
1. #10 Gilchrist/Gullickson, UG, def. #24 Stojic/Zubori, USC, 8-5
2. Ellis/Hyndman, UG, def. Jocic/Saari-Byström, USC, 8-1
3. Fakhoury/Ueshima, UG, def. Morgina/Pereira, USC, 8-2

Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1