Aug. 17, 2011
2011-12 Schedule
COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina women’s tennis head coach Arlo Elkins announced his team’s 2011-12 schedule Wednesday. The Gamecocks have five tournaments scheduled for the fall and 21 regular-season dual matches in the spring.
South Carolina gets the fall season underway Sept. 16 when it begins play in the Milwaukee Tennis Classic. Last year, the Gamecocks dominated the event with a 26-1 record over three days. Dijana Stojic was named the tournament’s singles champion, while Katerina Popova took home runner-up honors. Anya Morgina and Miljana Jocic were named the MTC’s doubles champions.
The 25th edition of the Furman Fall Classic (Sept. 23-25) awaits the Gamecocks for their second tournament, an event typically featuring some of the top teams in the nation. Last year’s field included seven teams that finished the 2010 season ranked in the top 30 nationally and six were in the top 20. Dominika Kanakova starred at the Furman Fall Classic in 2010 by winning her respective singles flight.
Over Sept. 30 to Oct. 2, the Gamecocks will play in the Wildcat Invitational in Evanston, Ill., for the fourth year in a row. It has typically been a very successful tournament for the Gamecocks, as they went a combined 28-4 in 2008, 22-7 in 2009 and 17-5 in 2010. Last year, Morgina and Jocic won singles titles for their flights.
Morgina is hoping to make the main draw at the ITA/Riviera All-American Championships in Pacific Palisades, Calif. The ITA’s first grand slam event begins with pre-qualifying Oct. 1-2, qualifying Oct. 4-5 and the main draw Oct. 6-9. Selections for the event will be announced Sept. 9 along with the preseason individual rankings.
South Carolina concludes its fall schedule playing in the USTA/ITA Carolina Regional Championships in Chapel Hill, N.C., over Oct. 20-24. The singles finalists from each of the 12 regions qualify to play in the ITA’s second grand slam tournament, the USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., from Nov. 3-6.
South Carolina kicks off the spring hosting Furman on Jan. 25 at 4 p.m. The Gamecocks then head to Atlanta for the ITA Kick-Off Weekend where they face William & Mary in the first round Jan. 27. Georgia Tech will take on Georgia State in the other match and the winners and losers will play the following day. The overall winner of the event qualifies for the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Charlottesville, Va., from Feb. 10-13.
The Gamecocks face some unfamiliar teams during a three-day stretch on the West Coast in mid-February. South Carolina faces Oregon, San Diego State and Boise State on Feb. 17, 18 and 19 in Eugene, Ore. Carolina has never played Oregon or Boise State and has faced SDSU just five times with the last coming in 1991.
In-state rival Clemson heads to Columbia on Feb. 22 for a 3 p.m. match-up to mark the 45th meeting between the schools in a series that dates back to 1976. It also begins a stretch of five straight matches against 2011 NCAA Tournament teams. South Carolina hosts College of Charleston and Winthrop on Feb. 24 and 26 before hitting the road to open SEC play.
Two of the SEC’s best in Georgia and Tennessee are on tap first for South Carolina on March 2 and 4. Georgia ended the 2011 campaign ranked No. 8, while the Lady Volunteers were No. 17. The Bulldogs reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament and Tennessee, like South Carolina, made the second round.
The Gamecocks host Kentucky and Vanderbilt March 9 and 11 before finishing off their non-conference matches with a contest against Georgia State on March 17 in Columbia. Carolina heads west to Oxford, Miss., to restart conference play with a March 23 match versus Ole Miss and then turns around to host Mississippi State on March 25.
South Carolina’s final two regular-season away matches take place at Alabama and Auburn on March 30 and April 1. The Gamecocks close it out hosting LSU, Arkansas and defending national champion Florida on April 6, 8 and 14.
Ole Miss serves as host for the SEC Tournament from April 19-22. The top four teams in the regular-season standings earn first-round byes. The NCAA Tournament begins with first- and second-round play taking place May 11-12 at campus sites and the NCAA Championships will be held May 17-22 in Athens, Ga. The NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships will also be in Athens over May 23-28.
