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Gamecocks
Earn 4-0 Win Over Wake Forest in NCAA
First Round
South Carolina Takes on Winner of
Tennessee-ETSU on Sunday at 1 p.m.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (May 9, 2009) - The
22nd-ranked South Carolina women's
tennis team advanced to the second round
of the
NCAA Tournament on Saturday with a 4-0
win over No. 40 Wake Forest (13-13) in
Knoxville, Tenn. The Gamecocks (15-10)
next
face the winner of No. 10 Tennessee and
East Tennessee State at 1 p.m. Sunday
for the right to compete in the NCAA
Championships in College Station, Texas,
starting May 15.
"We came out and took care of business
today," South Carolina head coach Arlo
Elkins said. "This team has worked
extremely hard
since the SEC Tournament; as hard as any
team I can remember in quite some time.
The result of that hard work was quite
evident
today. We're very much looking forward
to a great opportunity on Sunday."
The Gamecocks won the doubles point by
claiming positions two and three for the
early 1-0 lead. At three, Dijana Stojic
and
Suzanna Mansour stormed ahead on Ryann
Cutillo and Katarina Reveche 5-0, but
the Wake duo responded by winning four
straight games. South Carolina then went
ahead 6-4 and later 7-5 before winning
8-5.
On court two, Gira Schofield and Miljana
Jocic fell behind 4-2 versus Emilee
Malvehy and Aileen Davis. Schofield and
Jocic picked
up their games and ran off five games in
a row for a commanding 7-4 advantage.
After the Demon Deacons cut the deficit
to 7-5,
Schofield served out the match for an
8-5 victory.
Just as singles play started, a brief
rain shower suspended play. After more
than an hour delay attempting to dry the
courts, play
was moved indoors when tournament
officials determined more rain was on
the way.
The Gamecocks snagged their first point
in singles at the No. 2 position where
Zubori defeated Poske 6-3, 6-1. Zubori
trailed 3-2 in
the first set before winning four
consecutive games to take the set. In
the second, she won the first two games
before surrendering a
game to Poske. She then closed it out by
winning the next four games to record
her 20th dual match victory of the
season.
Schofield made the score 3-0 after
taking care of Kulikova at the top slot
6-2, 6-3. Schofield got behind 2-0 in
the second set before
recovering to snatch her 21st win of the
season. It also propelled Schofield into
the top 10 on the Gamecocks' career list
for singles
victories with 86.
Stojic provided the final point for
South Carolina at No. 3 singles. After
winning the first set handily 6-2 over
Malvehy, she faced a 3-
0 hole in the second, but came back to
tie the score 3-all. Malvehy, though,
won the next three games to force a
third set. Stojic
dominated the third the same way she did
the first. She ended the match win an
overhead smash at the net on a short
ball to put the
Gamecocks in the second round for the
13th time in their 15-year streak of
NCAA appearances.
"Everyone played very well," South
Carolina freshman Dijana Stojic said. "I
was very excited to have the chance to
clinch our match
today and thankfully it worked out. It's
been a great experience for me playing
in the NCAA Tournament and I'm happy I
was able to
help the team advance."
The remaining matches at positions four,
five and six were suspended once Stojic
clinched the victory for South Carolina.
#22 South Carolina (15-10) def. #40 Wake
Forest (13-13), 4-0
Singles
1. #43 Gira Schofield, USC, def. #65
Sasha Kulikova, WFU, 6-2, 6-3
2. #48 Ana Marija Zubori, USC, def.
Sierra Poske, WFU, 6-3, 6-1
University of South Carolina Athletics
Media Relations - 1322 Heyward Street,
Roost Building B - Columbia, SC 29208
Phone: (803) 777-5204 - Fax: (803)
777-2967 - Web: www.GamecocksOnline.com
3. Dijana Stojic, USC, def. Emilee
Malvehy, WFU, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
4. Natasa Vuckovic, USC, vs. Christian
Tara, WFU, 6-7, 1-5 suspended
5. Miljana Jocic, USC, vs. Katarina
Reveche, WFU, 4-1 suspended
6. Suzanna Mansour, USC, vs. Ryann
Cutillo, WFU, 1-1 suspended
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
Doubles
1. #27 Vuckovic/Zubori, USC, vs. #80
Kulikova/Poske, WFU, 7-6 suspended
2. Jocic/Schofield, USC, def.
Malvehy/Aileen Davis, WFU, 8-5
3. Mansour/Stojic, USC, def.
Cutillo/Reveche, WFU, 8-5
Order of Finish: 3, 2
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