Feb. 19, 2013
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The 30th-ranked South Carolina women’s tennis team returns to the courts Wednesday in Greenville, S.C., to face Furman at 5 p.m. at Mickel Tennis Center.
The Gamecocks (4-3) posted a 1-1 record over the weekend, upending No. 49 VCU by a 4-2 score but suffering a 4-3 setback at No. 47 William & Mary the next day. Junior Katerina Popova, ranked No. 114, had a productive weekend for the Gamecocks, going undefeated playing No. 2 singles as well as No. 2 doubles. She has the team’s best dual match singles record at 4-1 this spring. Freshman Ximena Siles Luna also had a strong weekend in the singles lineup by winning both of her matches at No. 4 singles in three sets. Her win at VCU clinched the 4-2 victory for Carolina, and she leads the team in overall singles wins this year with a 15-5 record. Senior Jaklin Alawi is the Gamecocks’ highest ranked player at No. 59 in singles, and she is rated No. 57 in doubles with junior Dominika Kanakova.
Furman (1-3) dropped a 4-1 decision to Troy in Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 10. Junior Margaret Boyette pushed her singles record to 3-1 with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Candela Munoz Giron at No. 5 singles to lead the Paladins. Paladin senior Lauren Kline ranks 110th nationally among all singles players according to the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings. During the 2012 fall season, Kline notched victories over Krisztina Kapitany of Purdue and Alabama’s Natalia Maynetto at the Duke Fab 4 Invitational, and she defeated 26th-ranked Zoe DeBruycker of North Carolina at the Furman Fall Classic.
Wednesday’s match-up marks the 36th meeting between the two schools in a series dating back to 1974, the first year both schools fielded varsity squads. The Gamecocks own a 29-6 record against the Paladins with all 29 coming consecutively. Furman won the first six matches in the series from 1974 to 1976, but the Gamecocks have won 29 straight beginning in 1978. South Carolina took home a 7-0 win a year ago in Columbia, S.C., and defeated Furman by a 6-1 count in Greenville in 2011.
South Carolina returns home Saturday for a doubleheader against College of Charleston and Charleston Southern beginning at 10:30 a.m. at Carolina Tennis Center.
