April 17, 2010

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The No. 18 South Carolina women’s tennis team (14-7, 7-4 SEC) suffered a 4-0 setback to No. 3 Florida (21-2, 11-0 SEC) on Saturday at Maxcy Gregg Tennis Center to end the regular season. With Tennessee’s victory at Georgia, the Gamecocks secured the No. 5 seed for the SEC Tournament and will face No. 12 seed Kentucky in the first round Thursday in Athens, Ga.

The Gamecocks lost the doubles point to fall behind 1-0 heading to singles play. Florida won first at No. 3 doubles with Caroline Hitimana and Anastasia Revzina defeating Adriana Pereira and Madeleine Saari-Byström 8-3. Pereira and Saari-Byström had a chance to stay in the match with several game points down 5-3, but the Gators managed to fight them off to take the game and then Hitimana and Revzina captured the next two games to finish the match.

At two, South Carolina’s Miljana Jocic and Rita Maisak got down 3-0 against Lauren Embree and Joanna Mather at two doubles. The Gamecocks cut the deficit to 3-1, but Florida charged ahead 5-1 before South Carolina won its second and final game. Embree and Mather closed out the match with an 8-2 triumph.

South Carolina nearly picked up a win at No. 1 singles against the nation’s fifth-ranked tandem of Allie Will and Marrit Boonstra. Ana Marija Zubori and Dijana Stojic had a 7-5 lead with Boonstra serving and got ahead 0-30 on her serve. Before the third point could be played, however, the doubles was suspended since Florida had clinched the point with a win on court two. Florida coach Roland Thornqvist and South Carolina coach Arlo Elkins had agreed before the match to suspend any matches in singles and doubles once the outcomes had been decided.

Mather put the Gators ahead 2-0 when she defeated Pereira 6-3, 6-3 at No. 5 singles. It was just Pereira’s second lost in SEC matches this year, as she finished the regular season with a 9-2 slate. Will then downed Stojic 6-4, 6-1 on court two to make the score 3-0 for Florida, and Boonstra finished off the match with a 6-4, 7-5 triumph over Morgina on court three.

Embree held a 4-1 lead in the third set over Zubori at No. 1 singles once the match was called. Zubori won the first 7-5 and dropped the second 6-1. At four, Jocic lost the first 6-4 to Revzina and trailed 3-2 in the second. Saari-Byström won the first set 6-1 against Hitimana at No. 6 singles but dropped the second 6-3 and was down 3-0 in the third.

#3 Florida (21-2, 11-0 SEC) def. #18 South Carolina (14-7, 7-4 SEC), 4-0

Singles
1. #53 Ana Marija Zubori, USC, vs. #10 Lauren Embree, UF, 7-5, 1-6, 1-4 suspended
2. #7 Allie Will, UF, def. #93 Dijana Stojic, USC, 6-4, 6-1
3. #75 Marrit Boonstra, UF, def. #110 Anya Morgina, USC, 6-4, 7-5
4. Miljana Jocic, USC, vs. #116 Anastasia Revzina, UF, 4-6, 2-3 suspended
5. Joanna Mather, UF, def. Adriana Pereira, USC, 6-3, 6-3
6. Madeleine Saari-Byström, USC, vs. Caroline Hitimana, UF, 6-1, 3-6, 0-3 suspended

Order of Finish: 5, 2, 3

Doubles
1. #18 Stojic/Zubori, USC, vs. #5 Boonstra/Will, UF, 7-5 suspended
2. #71 Embree/Mather, UF, def. Jocic/Rita Maisak, USC, 8-2
3. Hitimana/Revzina, UF, def. Pereira/Saari-Byström, USC, 8-3

Order of Finish: 3, 2