March 31, 2011

| Kentucky Live Scoring

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina’s No. 38-ranked women’s tennis team will face No. 20 Vanderbilt on Friday in Nashville, Tenn., at 3:30 p.m. ET and Kentucky in Lexington, Ky., on Sunday at noon ET.

The Gamecocks (11-5, 3-3 SEC) are looking to recover from a 4-1 loss to Ole Miss in their last match. South Carolina narrowly lost the doubles point to the Rebels and then fell at Nos. 2, 3 and 4 in singles. Anya Morgina snagged South Carolina’s only point in the singles competition with a straight set win on court one over Kristi Boxx, ranked No. 27 at the time. It marked Morgina’s third win of March versus a top 30 opponent.

Vanderbilt (9-6, 3-3 SEC) suffered a 4-3 setback to Alabama in its last match in Nashville. The Crimson Tide swept Vanderbilt in doubles before picking up wins at two, three and five in singles for the win. Courtney McLane clinched the triumph for Alabama with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 win over Lauren Mira at No. 3 singles. The Commodores have earned SEC wins over Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Auburn while also taking losses to Tennessee and Georgia. The Commodores also own wins against No. 18 Northwestern and No. 19 Notre Dame.

Kentucky (4-14, 2-4 SEC) ended a streak of six consecutive losses when it knocked off Auburn 6-1 in its last match. The Wildcats opened the year 0-6 before picking up a win over Miami (Ohio) and then Eastern Kentucky. Kentucky’s other victory this season came during the first weekend of conference play when the Wildcats defeated Mississippi State 6-1. Kentucky will host No. 2 Florida on Friday before facing South Carolina.

Vanderbilt holds a 15-12 edge in the all-time series with Carolina, but the Gamecocks have taken two of the last three matches from the Commodores. South Carolina’s last victory in Nashville came by a 5-2 count in 2005 when Vanderbilt held a top-10 ranking. The Gamecocks have won four in a row over Kentucky, beating the Wildcats twice last season to improve to 15-14 all-time versus UK.

South Carolina is using its usual lineup this week with one change coming at No. 3 doubles. Madeleine Saari-Byström is now listed with Josefin Andersson instead of Katerina Popova. The two played together earlier this year and are 4-4. They last played together versus LSU at the No. 2 spot. Saari-Byström then teamed with Popova for the next six matches, going 2-3 with one match being suspended.

Morgina will continue playing at No. 1 singles after moving up to No. 39 in the latest ITA singles rankings. After starting the season 0-4 at the position, Morgina has won 10 of her last 12 matches and brings a six-match winning streak into this weekend’s contests. During her winning streak, she has beaten players who were ranked 23rd, 27th and 29th at the time of the matches. Morgina is the first Gamecock to reach 20 victories in singles this season and stands 20-9 overall.

Dijana Stojic is ranked No. 123 this week and continues to occupy No. 2 singles. Stojic had her six-match winning streak snapped against Ole Miss, but she still stands at 17-7 for the year and is 11-4 at the No. 2 singles spot. Stojic also owns a 4-1 record at two singles in SEC matches. The junior from Croatia has also provided the clinching singles victory in five of the Gamecocks’ wins this season.

Popova will play at three singles, where she is 4-2 and 3-1 in league matches. Overall, Popova has gone 8-5 in duals and is 15-7 for the year. Behind her is Saari-Byström at four with a 9-7 record this season in dual matches playing at three and four. Dominika Kanakova holds down the No. 5 singles position and is 11-3 in duals and 18-6 overall, and Adriana Pereira rounds out singles at six with a 3-1 record and she is perfect in SEC play at 3-0.

At No. 1 doubles, Stojic and Kanakova have gone 7-8 in dual match play and are ranked 61st this week. They hope to end a tough stretch of four straight losses, while Morgina and Miljana Jocic will look to bounce back at the No. 2 doubles spot. Their loss against Ole Miss snapped a streak of four straight victories.

The Gamecocks will return home after facing Vanderbilt and Kentucky this weekend. South Carolina hosts No. 16 Tennessee on April 8 and then No. 7 Georgia on April 10.

This Weekend’s Lineups