Sept. 21, 2012

GREENVILLE, S.C. — The South Carolina women’s tennis team opened play in the 26th annual Furman Fall Classic on Friday at the Mickel Tennis Center in Greenville, S.C.

The Gamecocks’ two doubles teams both split their matches in the morning. In flight one, Jaklin Alawi and Dominika Kanakova suffered an 8-4 loss in their first match against Williams and Henderson from Tennessee but bounced back with an 8-6 victory over Price and McHale of North Carolina in the backdraw. Josefin Andersson and Ximena Siles Luna picked up an 8-6 win in their first match over Stanford and Murray of Furman before losing to North Carolina’s Suarez-Malaguti and Lyons in the semifinals of flight two.

Alex Martin teamed with Alabama’s Natalia Maynetto for doubles and picked up an 8-3 win against Florida State’s Erkan and Porry in flight three.

The Gamecocks were unable to snag a victory in the opening rounds of singles play. Alawi fell 6-1, 7-5 to Gina Suarez-Malaguti from North Carolina in flight one, while Andersson took No. 24-ranked Lauren McHale of UNC to three sets, losing 6-7 (6-8), 7-5, 6-1 in flight two. Siles Luna suffered a 6-2, 6-0 loss to Mimi Fotopoulos from Tennessee in the third flight and Martin fell by the same scores to Yui Lynn Miao of Clemson in flight four.

Play continues in the Furman Fall Classic on Saturday with doubles matches beginning at 9 a.m.

SINGLES – FLIGHT 1
Gina Suarez-Malaguti, UNC, def. #63 Jaklin Alawi, USC, 6-1, 7-5 (Quarterfinals)

SINGLES – FLIGHT 2
#24 Lauren McHale, UNC, def. Josefin Andersson, USC, 6-7 (6-8), 7-5, 6-1 (Quarterfinals)

SINGLES – FLIGHT 3
Mimi Fotopoulos, UT, def. Ximena Siles Luna, USC, 6-2, 6-0 (Quarterfinals)

SINGLES – FLIGHT 4
Yui Lynn Miao, CU, def. Alex Martin, USC, 6-2, 6-0 (Quarterfinals)

DOUBLES – FLIGHT 1
Williams/Henderson, UT, def. Alawi/Kanakova, USC, 8-4 (Quarterfinals)
Alawi/Kanakova, USC, def. Price/McHale, UNC, 8-6 (Consolation Semifinals)

DOUBLES – FLIGHT 2
Andersson/Siles Luna, USC, def. Stanford/Murray, FU, 8-6 (Quarterfinals)
Suarez-Malaguti/Lyons, UNC, def. Andersson/Siles Luna, USC, 8-5 (Semifinals)

LEGEND
CU = Clemson
FU = Furman
UNC = North Carolina
USC = South Carolina
UT = Tennessee