Feb. 26, 2011

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The No. 25 South Carolina women’s tennis team will face instate-rival and No. 12-ranked Clemson on Sunday at noon at the Hoke Sloan Tennis Center in Clemson, S.C.

The Gamecocks enter the match fresh off a 6-1 victory against Winthrop on Thursday, marking South Carolina’s fourth win a row. Carolina is 6-1 this season with its lone loss coming to Arizona State at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in late January. South Carolina has also posted wins versus South Carolina State, Furman, Florida International, Purdue and Illinois. At No. 12, Clemson is the highest ranked team South Carolina has faced so far in 2011.

Clemson stands 9-3 after falling to then-No. 8 Michigan at the ITA National Team Indoors in Charlottesville, Va. The Tigers also took a loss to Florida while at the National Team Indoors but did score a 4-3 victory over then-No. 7 UCLA in their first match to reach the quarterfinals. Clemson’s loss to Florida came in the quarters and the Michigan contest was a consolation match-up for both teams. The Tigers’ other loss this year was versus No. 10 Georgia by a 5-2 score Feb. 12 in Clemson.

Carolina and Clemson have two common opponents in Furman and Winthrop. Both teams defeated Furman by 6-1 scores and Clemson beat Winthrop 5-0.

Sunday’s contest marks the 46th meeting between Carolina and Clemson in a series that began in March 1976 in Clemson with an 8-1 South Carolina victory. The series is nearly split down the middle, with Clemson holding a slight 23-22 edge in the all-time series. The Tigers have been the more dominant team in recent years, winning eight of the past nine matches, including five straight in Clemson. South Carolina last defeated its rival in 2006 by a one-point margin, 4-3, in Columbia, S.C. The Gamecocks’ last win in Clemson was a 6-1 victory March 3, 2001.

South Carolina will look to receive a strong performance from junior Dijana Stojic in the Clemson match. The junior from Croatia owns a 2-0 record in singles in her previous two dual matches with the Tigers. As a freshman, Stojic defeated Ina Hadziselimovic, a senior on last year’s squad, playing at the No. 3 singles position 6-3, 6-2. Last year, Stojic finished as the last match on court and scored a win versus Keri Wong in three sets 7-6(3), 1-6, 6-4. Wong held a No. 65 ranking and it marked Stojic’s highest win against a ranked opponent in her career at the time.

Stojic stands 11-5 this year and is currently ranked No. 121. Stojic has clinched the Gamecocks’ last two wins versus Illinois and Winthrop. Should Clemson’s lineup stand as it did in its last match, Stojic will take on the 37th-ranked Wong again at No. 2 singles. Wong and Josipa Bek, who plays No. 1 singles, combine to form the nation’s No. 2-ranked doubles tandem as well. Stojic and freshman Dominika Kanakova, who are ranked 38th, will put their 5-1 dual match record on the line versus Wong and Bek at the top position.

Kanakova should also pose a formidable threat to the Tigers in singles. She is tied for the team lead in singles victories with a 13-4 record and is also the team leader in dual match wins with a 6-1 slate. Kanakova has spent the majority of the time playing the No. 5 singles position.

Anya Morgina will have a chance to help the Gamecocks and her national ranking in the process versus Clemson. Morgina is currently rated 56th, while her opponent, Bek, stands No. 14 in the country. Morgina got off to a rocky start at the No. 1 singles position this year, dropping her first four matches, but she has regained her confidence thanks to three straight wins to get her record to 13-7 overall. She and fellow Russian Katerina Popova have been a solid doubles team for Carolina as well, going 5-2 this spring with all but one match coming on court three.

South Carolina’s two Swedish players, Josefin Andersson and Madeleine Saari-Byström, enter Sunday’s contest playing strong as well in both singles and doubles. The two combine to form the Gamecocks’ No. 2 duo and have a 4-1 record this spring. Andersson is also 4-1 this spring for singles and is expected to be at the No. 6 singles spot for the Clemson match. Saari-Byström has played every match this spring at No. 3 and is tied with Morgina and Kanakova for the most wins this year in singles with a 13-3 mark.

At No. 4 singles, the Gamecocks have primarily used Popova. Her record stands at 3-2 at the position and she has quickly made a name for herself thanks to her crafty and deceptive shots in singles. Overall, Popova holds a 10-4 mark and pieced together a strong fall in her first semester as a Gamecock by going 7-2.

South Carolina will open SEC play after Sunday’s match with Clemson. The Gamecocks travel to Fayetteville, Ark., to open league play versus No. 16 Arkansas on March 4 and then face LSU on March 6 in Baton Rouge, La.