Jan. 26, 2012

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The 27th-ranked South Carolina women’s tennis team travels to Atlanta for the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, taking on No. 43 William & Mary on Friday at 10 a.m. Georgia Tech, ranked 13th, is hosting the event at the Bill Moore Tennis Center and will play No. 54 Georgia State in the other half of the draw at 2 p.m. on Friday. The winners play Saturday at 2 p.m. for a spot in the ITA National Team Indoor Championship hosted by Virginia in Charlottesville, Va., over Feb. 10-13. The losers will play a consolation match at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

The Gamecocks head in to the event fresh off a 7-0 sweep of No. 74 Furman on Wednesday to open their season and the new Carolina Tennis Center in Columbia, S.C. South Carolina won all three doubles contests and dropped just one set in singles en route to its 29th straight victory against the Paladins.

South Carolina boasts three players currently ranked in the top 100 with Anya Morgina (20), Jaklin Alawi (33) and Dijana Stojic (80). Morgina improved to 7-3 on the year after her win at No. 1 singles against Furman, Alawi moved to a team best 12-2 with a three-set triumph on court two and Stojic upped her mark to 8-3 with a straight set win at the No. 3 singles spot.

The William & Mary Tribe suffered a 7-0 loss in its first match of the year at No. 3 Duke on Jan. 20. Duke took all three doubles matches and won all the singles contests in straight sets. William and Mary currently has no players ranked in singles or doubles.

Georgia Tech stands 1-1 on the year after losing 4-3 to then-No. 7 Georgia in its season opener Jan. 21. The Yellow Jackets recovered with a 6-1 victory against No. 64 Memphis the following day. Tech has two ranked players in the national singles rankings with Jillian O’Neill topping the list at No. 45 followed by No. 106 Christina Ngo. Georgia Tech’s one ranked doubles team is Caroline Lilley and Jasmine Minor at 33rd.

Georgia State is 2-0 this season following a pair of 4-3 road victories at Furman on Jan. 21 and at then-No. 62 Wake Forest. No players from the Georgia State roster appear in the national singles or doubles rankings.

If the Gamecocks are unable to reach the ITA National Team Indoors their next matches after the Kick-Off Weekend will be in California to face both San Diego and Loyola Marymount in San Diego on Feb. 17 and 18.