Jan. 22, 2011

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The No. 21 South Carolina women’s tennis team opened 2011 with a 6-1 victory against South Carolina State on Saturday at the USC Field House in Columbia, S.C.

The Gamecocks caught a break before the match even started, as South Carolina State only had five healthy players for the match. The Bulldogs forfeited the No. 3 doubles position as well as No. 6 singles to put South Carolina on top 1-0 to start.

South Carolina quickly made the score 2-0 after earning an 8-3 triumph at No. 1 doubles with Dominika Kanakova and Dijana Stojic downing Akilah James and Daria Sekerina. The Gamecocks completed the sweep in doubles with Anya Morgina and Katerina Popova winning 8-3 against Laura Bosneag and Aimy Chen on court two.

In singles, the Gamecocks took advantage of their 2-0 lead, adding to it first with Madeleine Saari-Byström defeating Bosneag in straight sets 6-1, 6-1 at No. 3 singles to improve to 9-1 in 2010-11. Kanakova clinched the match for South Carolina with a 6-1, 6-3 triumph over Chen on court four.

The Bulldogs managed to register a win on court one with Sekerina defeating Morgina in three sets. Morgina took the first 6-2, but faltered 6-3 in the second. With the team outcome already decided, the two played a super tiebreaker for the third set. Sekerina held a 7-5 advantage after the second changeover and then went ahead 8-5. Morgina countered to win the next two points, but Sekerina answered back by taking the next two rallies to earn a 10-7 win.

Stojic grabbed South Carolina’s fifth point, coming back from an early 4-1 first-set deficit versus James at No. 2 singles to win 6-4, 6-1. Josefin Andersson closed out the day with a win on court five by defeating Fanni Fricska, taking the first set 6-2 and then earning the victory after Fricska retired in the second set with Andersson leading 1-0.

South Carolina returns to action Tuesday when it travels to Greenville, S.C., to face Furman at 4 p.m.

Singles
1. Daria Sekerina, SCSU, def. #37 Anya Morgina, USC, 2-6, 6-3, (10-7)
2. #93 Dijana Stojic, USC, def. Akilah James, SCSU, 6-4, 6-1
3. Madeleine Saari-Byström, USC, def. Laura Bosneag, SCSU, 6-1, 6-1
4. Dominika Kanakova, USC, def. Aimy Chen, SCSU, 6-1, 6-3
5. Josefin Andersson, USC, def. Fanni Fricska, SCSU, 6-2, 1-0 (retired)
6. Miljana Jocic, USC, wins by default

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

Doubles
1. Kanakova/Stojic, USC, def. James/Sekerina, SCSU, 8-3
2. Morgina/Katerina Popova, USC, def. Bosneag/Chen, SCSU, 8-3
3. Andersson/Saari-Bystrom, USC, win by default

Order of Finish: 1, 2