March 19, 2011
| Coach Elkins Previews College of Charleston |
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The No. 33 South Carolina women’s tennis team will conclude the non-conference portion of its 2011 schedule Sunday when it takes on College of Charleston at 1 p.m. at the College of Charleston Tennis Center at Patriots Point in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
The Gamecocks (9-4, 2-2 SEC) are looking to extend their three-match winning streak before returning to SEC play at Mississippi State on Friday. South Carolina pulled out a 4-3 victory against Auburn on March 11 for its first win in conference play this year and then beat Alabama 5-2 two days later. Most recently, Carolina won another 4-3 match by defeating No. 30 VCU on Wednesday. The VCU contest marked the third time this year the Gamecocks lost the doubles point but still managed to win the match.
College of Charleston posted a pair of wins March 13, beating Jacksonville State 7-0 and Charleston Southern 5-2 to get back to .500 for the season at 5-5. The Cougars opened up a stretch of six straight days of match play with Wisconsin on Friday, who they beat 6-1. CofC faces East Carolina on Saturday morning before hosting the Gamecocks on Sunday. The Cougars finish their home stand against Clemson on Monday, Cornell on Tuesday, and Elon on Wednesday.
South Carolina owns a 19-2 record versus College of Charleston in a series that began in 1978. The Cougars won the first two matches of the series that year before the Gamecocks posted 19 straight wins. Carolina won 7-0 against CofC last season and beat the Cougars 6-1 in 2007, the last time it visited Patriots Point.
Gamecock junior Dijana Stojic enters the contest playing some of her best tennis yet this spring. The Croatia native has provided the clinching point in singles for South Carolina’s last three victories and has earned five clinchers this year. Stojic is 15-6 overall and 9-3 at No. 2 singles with a national ranking of 103rd. The reigning SEC Player of the Week has won four straight contests and seven of her last eight.
Stojic’s classmate Anya Morgina is also on a tear at the No. 1 singles spot. After a rocky 0-4 start to the spring, Morgina has recovered to win seven of her last nine matches and beaten two top-30 opponents in SEC play. Overall, Morgina is 17-9, which leads the Gamecocks for singles wins, and she has a 3-1 mark in conference action. Morgina is ranked No. 41 in the nation and has been ranked as high as 37th this season.
Freshman Dominika Kanakova has also been an effective and consistent producer for South Carolina this spring. She is tied with Stojic for the best record in dual matches at 9-3 and is 16-6 overall. Kanakova has seen most of her action this spring at No. 5 singles, where she is 7-3. She and Stojic hold the No. 1 spot in doubles and own a No. 34 national ranking to go along with a 7-5 record this spring.
South Carolina has received solid production from its other three starters in singles play. Madeleine Saari-Byström, Katerina Popova and Adriana Pereira all have winning records overall and in dual matches. Saari-Byström is 15-7 and 7-6 in duals with the majority of her time being spent at No. 3 singles. The last three matches, though, she has played on court four. Popova is 13-6 overall and 6-4 in duals and has moved to court three after beginning the year at four. Pereira is 2-1 after entering the lineup for the first time this year at No. 6 singles against Auburn.
