Jan. 30, 2011

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The No. 22 South Carolina women’s tennis team recovered from its loss to Arizona State yesterday with a 5-2 victory against No. 54 Florida International on Sunday at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center in Coral Gables, Fla. South Carolina improved to 3-1 on the year with its win in the consolation round of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend.

South Carolina played much better in doubles than the previous day. Florida International, though, won the first match of the morning on court two with Magali Holt and Elizabeth Johnson defeating Miljana Jocic and Madeleine Saari-Byström 8-2.

The Gamecocks struck back on court one with Dominika Kanakova and Dijana Stojic. The Gamecock duo led virtually the entire way of their match. Kanakova and Stojic’s break they gained at 3-1 held the remainder of the way against Liset Brito and Maria Spenceley. FIU had a chance to break back at 7-6 with Kanakova serving 30-40, but South Carolina won the next three points to earn the 8-6 victory.

On court three, Anya Morgina and Katerina Popova raced out to a 3-0 advantage on the Panthers’ Chrissie Seredni and Giulietta Boha. Seredni and Boha came back to close the margin to 5-4, but Morgina and Popova won the next two games for a commanding 7-4 advantage. FIU held serve to make it 7-5 and then went up 0-40 on Morgina’s serve. The Gamecocks countered, though, by winning five consecutive rallies for the 8-5 win.

In singles, South Carolina started slow on the first three courts while taking big leads on the bottom three. Jocic made the score 2-0 after she blanked Holt at the No. 6 spot 6-0, 6-0 for her second dual-match victory of the season. Saari-Byström pushed the lead to 3-0, coming back from a 4-0 deficit in the first set to upend Johnson in straight sets 7-5, 6-3. Popova provided the fourth point on court four with a 6-3, 6-0 triumph over Spenceley to earn her first career dual match win.

The Gamecocks moved to a 5-0 advantage on FIU once Kanakova held on to down Boha at No. 5 singles, winning 6-4, 6-4. FIU got on the scoreboard with Brito defeating Morgina on court one 6-3, 6-3, and Seredni added the final point for the Panthers with a 6-7(6), 6-0, (11-9) win against Stojic at No. 2 singles.

The Gamecocks will be back in action Saturday, Feb. 12, when they play at Purdue at noon ET.

Singles
1. Liset Brito, FIU, def. #37 Anya Morgina, USC, 6-3, 6-3
2. Chrissie Seredni, FIU, def. #93 Dijana Stojic, USC, 6-7(6), 6-0, (11-9)
3. Madeleine Saari-Byström, USC, def. Elizabeth Johnson, FIU, 7-5, 6-3
4. Katerina Popova, USC, def. Maria Spenceley, FIU, 6-3, 6-0
5. Dominika Kanakova, USC, def. Giulietta Boha, FIU, 6-4, 6-4
6. Miljana Jocic, USC, def. Magali Holt, FIU, 6-0, 6-0

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

Doubles
1. Kanakova/Stojic, USC, def. Brito/Spenceley, FIU, 8-6
2. Holt/Johnson, FIU, def. Jocic/Saari-Bystrom, USC, 8-2
3. Morgina/Popova, USC, def. Seredni/Boha, FIU, 8-5

Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3