Feb. 20, 2013

GREENVILLE, S.C. — The 38th-ranked South Carolina women’s tennis team posted a 7-0 win at Furman on Wednesday evening at the Mickel Tennis Center in Greenville, S.C. The Gamecocks improved to 5-3 on the season with the win, while the Paladins dropped to 1-4.

South Carolina took a hotly contested doubles point from Furman. The Gamecocks claimed an 8-2 victory at the top spot from Jaklin Alawi and Dominika Kanakova against the Paladin duo of Lauren Kline and Alex Moreno-Kaste. Furman responded with a win at No. 3 doubles with Margaret Boyette and Kelly Sullivan defeating Elixane Lechemia and Ximena Siles Luna by an 8-7 (7-2) count.

Carolina’s Katerina Popova and Josefin Andersson then found themselves in a 6-all tie on court two with Michele Stanford and Amanda Murray in the deciding match for doubles. The Gamecocks managed to win two straight games to secure the 1-0 lead heading to singles and improved their record on the season to a team best 7-1 in the process.

No. 59 Alawi made short work of No. 110 Kline at the top singles position to extend South Carolina’s lead to 2-0 and snap a five-match losing streak. No. 114 Popova cruised past Katherine Oudin on court two 6-2, 6-0, and Kanakova clinched the win for Carolina at No. 4 singles with a 6-4, 6-2 triumph over Stanford.

Lechemia, playing in her first collegiate match, added to Carolina’s point total with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Moreno-Kaste on court three to run the score to 5-0. Andersson battled her way to a 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) victory against Murray at No. 5 singles for South Carolina’s final point. Furman concluded the evening with Sullivan coming back to defeat Alex Martin 4-6, 7-5, (1-0) to avoid a sweep.

The Gamecocks will return home for their next two contests when they host a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 10:30 a.m. against College of Charleston at Carolina Tennis Center. South Carolina then takes on Charleston Southern afterward at 4 p.m.

SINGLES COMPETITION

	POS	SOUTH CAROLINA	OPPONENT	WINNER	SCORE	FINISH
	1	#59 Jaklin Alawi	#110 Lauren Kline	South Carolina	6-1, 6-2	1
	2	#114 Katerina Popova	Katherine Oudin	South Carolina	6-2, 6-0	2
	3	Elixane Lechemia	Alex Moreno-Kaste	South Carolina	6-4, 6-4	4
	4	Dominika Kanakova	Michele Stanford	South Carolina	6-4, 6-2	3
	5	Josefin Andersson	Amanda Murray	South Carolina	6-4, 7-6 (7-2)	5
	6	Alex Martin	Kelly Sullivan	Furman	4-6, 7-5, (1-0)	6

DOUBLES COMPETITION

	POS	SOUTH CAROLINA	OPPONENT	WINNER	SCORE	FINISH
	1	#57 Alawi/Kanakova	Kline/Moreno-Kaste	South Carolina	8-2	1
	2	Popova/Andersson	Stanford/Murray	South Carolina	8-6	3
	3	Lechemia/Siles Luna	Boyette/Sullivan	Furman	8-7 (7-2)	2