Sept. 22, 2011

2011 Furman Fall Classic Draws | Follow Us On Facebook!

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina’s women’s tennis team heads to Greenville, S.C., for the 25th annual Furman Fall Classic beginning Friday and ending Sunday.

The Gamecocks look to continue their successful start to the 2011-12 campaign after going a perfect 33-0 at the Milwaukee Tennis Classic last weekend. Anya Morgina earned the singles champion trophy and along with Dominika Kanakova, the duo was named doubles co-champions. Dijana Stojic and Jaklin Alawi were the other Gamecock tandem honored, and both players were named singles co-runners-up as well.

In addition to South Carolina, seven other schools will appear in the event, including host Furman, Alabama, Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt. Seven of the eight squads finished the 2011 season ranked in the top 35 and five were among the top 20.

“It’s a very, very strong tournament again this year,” head coach Arlo Elkins said. “The individual draws look like the NCAA Tournament. It’s going to be very tough and it’s certainly a step up from the competition last week, but we are ready for it, and hopefully, we’ll be able to play and have some good results.”

All 10 members of South Carolina’s team will compete in the tournament that features seven flights of singles and four flights of doubles. Morgina, the Gamecocks’ top-ranked player at No. 30, will compete in flight one against No. 29 Natalie Pluskota of Tennessee in her first-round match. As a whole, six of the eight players in the top flight hold national rankings of sixth, 27th, 29th, 30th, 32nd and 100th.

It does not get much easier in flight two for Alawi, as the draw consists of four players ranked in the nation’s top 100. Alawi faces Vanderbilt freshman Marie Casares, who is ranked No. 6 in the ITA’s preseason freshmen rankings. Flight two features players ranked Nos. 31, 40, 55 and 98.

“I will give my best every match and we’ll see what happens,” Alawi said. “I know it’s going to be a tough tournament, so I just want to go out there and have fun, and I know I can play well with those players.”

Stojic is one of three ranked players in flight three, coming in at No. 68 this fall. Courtney McLane (90) of Alabama and Clemson’s Nelly Ciolkowski (83) are the other competitors with national rankings. Stojic takes on Francesca Segarelli from Florida State in the first round.

Katerina Popova squares off with Amanda Murray of Furman on Friday in flight four. Popova is rated No. 96, and the other ranked player at the opposite end of her draw is Lauren Mira (110) from Vanderbilt.

Kanakova will compete in flight five, taking on Furman’s Michele Stanford in the first round. Chelsea Preeg from Vanderbilt is the lone ranked player in the flight at 66th.

Adriana Pereira will play in flight six against Haley Hemm from North Carolina, and Josefin Andersson will face Ashleigh Antal from Vanderbilt.

In flight seven, Dina Guzairova faces UNC’s Jennifer Stone. Also competing in flight seven and making their season debuts for the Gamecocks are Stephanie Cox and Lindsey Main. Cox plays Jenny Porter from Furman and Main will take on Olivia Maurice, also from Furman.

For doubles, Alawi and Stojic will compete in the top flight along with the Nos. 1, 22 and 27 teams in the nation. They face 27th-ranked Courtney McLane and Taylor Lindsey from Alabama in their first match. Alawi and Stojic are 2-0 together this fall after their successful pairing in Milwaukee.

“I really like to play with Dijana because she’s a lot of fun and we’re having a lot of fun together,” Alawi said. “She doesn’t put any pressure on me and she is very supportive. She moves a lot at the net, which I really like because I hit hard from the baseline and she can cross. I hope we can play in the future even more.”

Morgina and Kanakova, the Gamecocks’ one ranked doubles team this fall at 45th, will play Margaret Boyette and Murray from Furman in their first match in flight two. Also in flight two, Andersson and Popova go up against Alexa Guarachi and Antonia Foehse from Alabama. In flight three, Pereira and Guzairova face Furman’s Kelly Sullivan and Lauren Kline.

Due to a lack of teams, flight four will be played in a round-robin format. Main and Cox play Maurice and Porter of Furman on Friday and a split-school combo of Ciolkowski of Clemson and Vandy’s Megan Gornet on Saturday.