April 13, 2012
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COLUMBIA, S.C. — The 27th-ranked South Carolina women’s tennis team will close out the regular season Saturday hosting No. 2-ranked and defending national champion Florida at 11 a.m. at Carolina Tennis Center in Columbia, S.C. Prior to the match, South Carolina will honor seniors Anya Morgina and Dijana Stojic.
South Carolina (14-6, 5-5 SEC) extended its winning streak to three matches with a pair of victories against then-No. 39 LSU and then-No. 40 Arkansas. The Gamecocks scored a 6-1 victory from the Tigers first, their most lopsided victory over LSU since 2006, and then followed with a 7-0 win against the Razorbacks. It was just their fourth shutout in the all-time series with Arkansas.
Junior Jaklin Alawi, ranked No. 85, picked up her 24th and 25th singles victories on the season in the LSU and Arkansas wins. Alawi is 25-7 overall to lead the Gamecocks and also has a team best 14-5 record in duals playing at the No. 2 position. She is the winningest Gamecock in doubles as well with a 20-10 mark playing with four different partners. She has played all but two matches this season at No. 1 doubles and is ranked No. 52 with Morgina and No. 67 with Stojic.
Last Friday’s match against LSU marked the long-awaited return of Stojic, ranked No. 88, who underwent back surgery in February following a match against Loyola Marymount. Stojic returned to the doubles lineup with Alawi on court one and then played No. 5 in singles. Against LSU in doubles, Alawi and Stojic trailed 7-2 in their match before coming back to win 7-2 in a tiebreaker. She won in straight sets versus LSU and then won a third set super tiebreaker against Arkansas.
Sophomore Katerina Popova scored her 20th win of the season against Arkansas with a straight set victory. She and Alawi have the most dual match wins this year with 14. Along with junior Adriana Pereira, Popova and Alawi all have 6-4 singles records in SEC play to lead the Gamecocks. Popova also won a couple doubles contests playing junior Josefin Andersson to help the duo move to 15-8 this season and 9-4 in duals. Popova and Andersson have played the most matches together of any South Carolina duo.
Sophomore Dominika Kanakova also recorded impressive victories last weekend playing court three for singles and court two in doubles with Morgina. Kanakova started SEC play with a 1-5 record at the No. 3 position but has stepped up to win three straight including two three set matches in that stretch. Kanakova is now 18-9 for the year and 11-7 in duals.
Morgina is still the highest ranked Gamecock at No. 40 in singles. She has posted a 19-8 record for the Gamecocks and is 13-5 playing on court one. Like Kanakova, Morgina has been hitting her stride the past couple of weeks and enters Saturday’s contest with Florida riding a three-match winning streak.
Florida (17-1, 10-0 SEC) defeated Arkansas and LSU last week and clinched at least a share of the SEC regular-season championship. The Gators can secure the title outright with a win over the Gamecocks. Florida has won 26 of the 33 league overall titles. The Gators have won eight SEC titles in 11 years under head coach Roland Thornqvist. UF’s win against LSU on April 8 clinched the No. 1 seed in the upcoming SEC Tournament.
Last week, senior Joanna Mather earned her 100th career doubles win and improved her combined victory total to 197. Junior Caroline Hitmana became the 44th Gator to win 100 combined singles and doubles matches in her career. The doubles team of Lauren Embree and Mather has won 15 consecutive doubles matches, tied for the eighth longest streak in program history.
In the latest national rankings, Florida has six players ranked in singles with Allie Will (1), Embree (10), Mather (21), Sofie Oyen (48), Alexandra Cercone (73) and Hitimana (123). In doubles, Will and Oyen are ranked No. 1, followed by Embree/Mather (16) and Cercone/Olivia Janowicz (46).
Florida owns a significant advantage in the all-time series with the Gamecocks, leading 38-2. The Gators have won 34 in a row over South Carolina. The Gamecocks’ first win in the series was a 5-4 triumph in Columbia on March 29, 1981. The last came in the round of 16 at the inaugural NCAA Championships in Salt Lake City with South Carolina picking up a 5-4 win on May 16, 1982.
