Jan. 25, 2012

Photo Gallery

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina women’s tennis team opened the new Carolina Tennis Center with a 7-0 win Wednesday over Furman in Columbia, S.C. It was the first match of the season for the Gamecocks, while Furman dropped to 1-2 with the loss.

“It was great,” head coach Arlo Elkins said. “The weather was unbelievable and this facility’s really unbelievable. It was a pretty exciting day. I think we had a pretty good crowd out here and it looks like this facility’s going to help in getting fans out, and also it’ll help with recruiting. A couple of (the student-athletes) said they were a little nervous when they first came out being at the new facility. They didn’t want to be the first loss in this facility, so they were a little nervous, but I didn’t really see it.”

In doubles, South Carolina cruised with a sweep of all three courts to take the 1-0 advantage heading to singles. The Gamecocks received an 8-0 victory from Jaklin Alawi and Dijana Stojic on court one over Alex Moreno-Kaste and Katherine Oudin. Josefin Andersson and Anya Morgina clinched the point for Carolina with an 8-2 triumph over Margaret Boyette and Katherine Oudin at the No. 2 position. South Carolina later claimed an 8-6 win over Amanda Murray and Michele Stanford on court three thanks to Katerina Popova and Dominika Kanakova.

Morgina added South Carolina’s second point with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Kline at the top singles position. Kanakova scored the Gamecocks’ third point, winning 6-2, 6-2 over Moreno-Kaste on court five, and Popova added the fourth point at No. 4 singles by downing Boyette 6-3, 6-0 to give Carolina the team victory. Less than five minutes after Popova’s win, Adriana Pereira scored a 6-3, 6-3 win over Kelly Sullivan at six to make it 5-0 for the Gamecocks.

South Carolina had to fight for the final two matches on court at spots two and three. At two, Stojic fell behind 4-3 to Stanford in the first set before rallying to take the next three games in a set that lasted well over one hour. In the second, Stojic raced out to a 4-1 lead and after Stanford grabbed the sixth game, Stojic closed out the match by winning two straight games for a 6-4, 6-2 win.

Alawi finished last at No. 2 singles. After losing 6-4 to Oudin in the first set, Alawi struck back to win the second set 6-1 after initially leading 5-0. In the third, Oudin had a 2-1 advantage at the changeover, but Alawi stormed back, winning five games in a row to conclude the evening for South Carolina.

The Gamecocks return to the courts Friday in Atlanta, Ga., to face William & Mary at 10 a.m. in the opening round of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend hosted by Georgia Tech.

Singles
1. #20 Anya Morgina, USC, def. Lauren Kline, FU, 6-3, 6-2
2. #33 Jaklin Alawi, USC, Katherine Oudin, FU, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
3. #80 Dijana Stojic, USC, def. Michele Stanford, FU, 6-4, 6-2
4. Katerina Popova, USC, def. Margaret Boyette, FU, 6-3, 6-0
5. Dominika Kanakova, USC, def. Alex Moreno-Kaste, FU, 6-2, 6-2
6. Adriana Pereira, USC, def. Kelly Sullivan, FU, 6-3, 6-3

Order of Finish: 1, 5, 4, 6, 3, 2

Doubles
1. Alawi/Stojic, USC, def. Moreno-Kaste/Oudin, FU, 8-0
2. Josefin Andersson/Morgina, def. USC, Boyette/Kline, FU, 8-2
3. Kanakova/Popova, USC, def. Amanda Murray/Stanford, FU, 8-6

Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3