May 24, 2011
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Junior Anya Morgina from the South Carolina women’s tennis team begins play in the NCAA Singles Championship on Wednesday at Taube Tennis Center in Stanford, Calif. Morgina, ranked No. 44, will take on fourth-ranked Denise Dy of Washington in the first round at 1 p.m. ET.
Morgina was recently named the ITA Carolina Region Player to Watch. She also earned a spot on the All-SEC First Team, becoming just the fourth Gamecock in school history to achieve first-team status. It marked the first All-SEC accolade in Morgina’s career. The Russian has played the No. 1 singles position all season for Carolina and recorded a 14-11 mark there. In SEC regular-season play, Morgina tied a school record by winning eight matches on court one and finished 8-3. She posted the most wins at No. 1 singles in league play of any player in the conference. Morgina currently stands 24-14 overall in singles.
Morgina will be the third Gamecock to have played Washington’s Dy over the past three seasons. In 2009, Ana Marija Zubori defeated Dy at No. 2 singles in three sets to clinch South Carolina’s 4-0 win over Washington in the NCAA round of 16 in College Station, Texas. In 2010, Dijana Stojic lost in straight sets at No. 2 singles to Dy in a consolation match during the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Fayetteville, Ark. Dy has played nearly the entire 2011 season on court one for the Huskies.
South Carolina has placed a singles competitor or doubles team in 23 of 30 NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships. Laura Bernstein remains the only Gamecock to advance to the round of 16 in singles, doing so in 1983. In doubles, Helen Crook and Victoria Davies are the only South Carolina duo to go as far as the semifinals, which happened in 1994.
