Katerina Popova

2011-12 Gamecock Spotlight Video

2013-14 (SENIOR): Concluded her career as a Gamecock with 155 combined victories between singles and doubles to rank ninth in school history … Popova’s 77 career doubles wins ranked tied for sixth in school history … Also ranked 10th in school history for regular-season SEC dual match victories in singles (22), third in doubles victories (22) and tied for sixth in combined singles and doubles wins (44) … Went 18-12 in singles her final season and was 17-9 in doubles … Tied for the team lead in dual match victories for doubles with a 14-6 mark … Played mostly No. 2 singles with some appearances at the top spot and the No. 3 hole … Began the fall ranked No. 77 in singles … Ranked as high as 69th during the spring and finished the season ranked No. 98 … Scored one of the biggest wins of her career in defeating Danielle Collins of Virginia during a dual match in early February … Collins was ranked No. 28 at the time, the highest ranked player Popova beat in her career, and went on to win the NCAA Singles Championship in May … Won nine matches in a row at one point during the spring … Won a critical match against Miho Kowase at No. 2 singles to help the Gamecocks defeat Ohio State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament … Played doubles with five different partners … Spent most of the spring playing with Brigit Folland and Meghan Blevins at No. 2 doubles … Achieved a national ranking with Blevins at No. 76 in the April 8 rankings … The two were ranked as high as No. 47 before finishing the season 48th … Posted three wins over ranked doubles teams with Blevins, the first being versus Daines and Spielmann from Alabama who were 70th at the time … Next came a win over No. 40 Antal and Campbell from Vanderbilt and then Duke’s No. 36 Goldfeld and Smith in the second round of the NCAA Tournament … A member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll for the fourth year in a row … Graduated in December 2014 after double majoring in international business and economics with a minor in Chinese. 2012-13 (JUNIOR): Followed up her impressive sophomore season with another stellar year for the Gamecocks … Named to the All-SEC Second Team while also picking up the team’s MVP award … It marked the first All-SEC accolade of her career … The only Gamecock to win 20 matches in both singles and doubles play … Won more dual singles matches than any other player with 14 … Played nearly every match at No. 2 singles and a few at No. 1 despite never playing either spot prior to her junior year … Tied for the team lead in SEC singles wins with seven … Reached the quarterfinals of the USTA/ITA Carolina Regional Championships … Ranked as high as No. 96 in singles during the season … Held a national ranking the entire spring and finished at No. 111 … Won seven matches in a row from Feb. 16 to March 3, dropping just one set in the process … Won all of her singles and doubles matches at Arkansas and LSU, which earned her the first SEC Player of the Week nod of her career the following week … Put together a fantastic doubles campaign with Josefin Andersson after the duo got off to a slow start in the fall … Andersson and Popova finished the spring with a 16-3 dual match record, good for an 84.2 percent winning percentage … It was the highest dual match winning percentage for a Gamecock tandem with at least 15 matches played together since Carolina Culik and Monica Weise went 15-2 (88.2) in 1990 … Ended their careers together riding a six-match winning streak … The two earned the first doubles rankings for their careers on April 23 when they came in at No. 66 … Andersson and Popova finished the season with a No. 62 ranking … Over a span of two years, Andersson and Popova compiled a 37-17 record together … Also a member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll for the third year in a row. 2011-12 (SOPHOMORE): Had a very successful sophomore campaign for the Gamecocks playing both singles and doubles … Finished the year as the team leader in dual match singles victories with a 16-7 record … Was second on the team in overall singles wins with a 22-12 mark … Held a national ranking to begin the fall season at No. 96 … Played most of her doubles matches with Josefin Andersson and the two became regulars for the Gamecocks at the No. 3 position for dual matches … The duo won more matches together than any other tandem with a 17-9 record … They ended the season winning 10 of 13 matches … Won all three of her singles matches at the Milwaukee Tennis Classic to start the fall season … After taking a couple losses early in the spring, Popova caught fire and won 11 of her next 12 matches and ran her record in SEC play to 5-1 in the process … During that span, she helped the Gamecocks win a 4-3 decision over instate rival Clemson with a three-set triumph over Klara Vyskocilova, who was ranked No. 82 at the time … Popova beat Vyskocilova 6-0 in the third set … It was South Carolina’s first win against the Tigers since 2006 … Was told that same week she was accepted into USC’s international business program that is consistently ranked No. 1 in the nation … Dropped just one game in helping Carolina earn a 4-3 win against Georgia State with her win over Maryna Kozachenko … An injury suffered toward the end of her doubles match against Alabama on March 30 slowed her down for the remainder of the season, but she still managed some critical wins for the Gamecocks … Her best was the clinching point against TCU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, defeating Federica Denti in three sets to include a dominant 6-1 performance in the third … Recognized as an ITA Scholar Athlete for achieving a minimum 3.5 GPA for the academic year … Also a member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll for the second year in a row. FRESHMAN (2010-11): A key member of the Gamecocks’ lineup for both singles and doubles … Finished with an 18-11 record in singles and was 11-9 in duals to include a 6-4 mark in conference matches … Held down Nos. 3 and 4 singles for the Gamecocks during the spring … Had several doubles partners to include Miljana Jocic, Dominika Kanakova, Anya Morgina, Madeleine Saari-BystrÃÆ’¶m and Dijana Stojic … Was 19-14 overall in doubles, the second most victories in doubles on the team … Played mostly at three doubles in duals and was 13-10 as a whole … Won the first four singles matches of her career starting with the Milwaukee Tennis Classic in September … Dropped just 10 games in her first three matches at Milwaukee and was named the singles runner-up for the entire event behind teammate Dijana Stojic … Entered the spring season with a national ranking of 117th in singles, the first ranking of her career … Helped South Carolina win key road matches at Illinois and Purdue with wins at No. 4 singles … Also won a key match at No. 3 singles against Auburn to help the Gamecocks defeat Auburn by a 4-3 margin … Beat the first ranked player of her career versus Alabama on March 13 when she defeated then-No. 116 Courtney McLane in three sets … Scored a win over freshman and then-No. 37 Brynn Boren of Tennessee in straight sets in a 4-3 team loss to the Lady Vols … Popova followed up the win over Boren with a straight set decision against another top SEC freshman in Alex Angelescu of Georgia … Also upended Angelescu in doubles playing with Jocic to stun the Bulldogs and take the doubles point … The wins over Boren and Angelescu catapulted Popova back into the national rankings at No. 108 in the April 12 edition … Her last appearance in the rankings was April 19 at 120th … A member of the SEC Freshmen Academic Honor Roll. HIGH SCHOOL: Ranked as high as No. 82 in the world on the International Tennis Federation junior circuit … Had a career singles record of 47-38 and was 40-29 in doubles playing ITF juniors events … Competed in the qualifying draw for the US Open junior division in 2010 … Consistently ranked in the top 10 for her age group in Russia throughout her junior career … Ranked among the top 20 for players in Europe in the under 14s … Reached the finals of an ITF tournament in South Africa in March 2010 … Won three matches in qualifying at the 2009 Dunlop Orange Bowl to reach the main draw … Also won three matches in qualifying at the Eddie Herr International Junior Tennis Championships and then reached the second round of the main draw … A finalist at the TSZ Cup in May 2008 … Made the finals of the Wilson ITF Junior Classic in Austria in January 2008 … Doubles finalist at multiple ITF junior tournaments … Ranked No. 1 in the under 12 division in Russia … Received the First President of Russia-Elcin Scholarship when she was 14.