Morgina, Stojic close in on milestone
Anya Morgina and Dijana Stojic are one win away from a feat no South Carolina women’s tennis player has accomplished in 11 years.
After earning two wins apiece in the opening rounds of the ITA/Riviera All-American Championships in Pacific Palisades, Calif., the seniors will seek to become the first players to make the tournament’s main draw since associate head coach Katarina Petrovic qualified in 2000.
“It’s one of the toughest tournaments in the fall,” Petrovic said. “This is an individual tournament, but in order to compete you have to be highly ranked or selected based on your wins from the previous semester or season. It’s at a really high level. It’s the highest-ranked tournament in the fall for individual players.”
Sixty-four players from around the country are competing to make the main draw for the tournament, which marks the first of three ITA Grand Slam events.
Petrovic was surprised to learn that she was the last USC player to reach the main draw, but she said the players do not need the additional motivation of making history because of the tournament’s far-reaching impact on their season.
“They know that it’s a big tournament, and they’ve worked really hard this fall,” Petrovic said. “I think it’s big enough motivation just to play against the best players in the country. It will help with their individual rankings for the next semester and help them try to qualify for the individual NCAA tournament in May.”
The most competitive event the Gamecocks have played in so far this fall was the Furman Fall Classic, in which five of the eight teams in the field finished the spring season among the top 20 in the nation. Morgina, currently ranked No. 30 in singles, lost both matches she played.
She fared better on the first day at Pacific Palisades, defeating No. 76 Ekaterina Morozova of Kansas and No. 48 Sam Critser of Michigan.
“I’m very excited to play this tournament,” Morgina said. “My main goal is to enter the main draw. I’m also very excited to play all the highly ranked players. The Furman tournament was really tough, and I played very good players, too. I think it was good preparation for this tournament.”
Stojic, ranked No. 68 in the nation, started the tournament with wins against California’s Annie Goransson and Notre Dame’s Shannon Matthews. She will continue her bid to make the main draw against No. 26 Joanna Mather of Florida.
“I’ve played that girl a few times, so I know her really well,” Stojic said. “The tournament is really tough. Every girl is ranked. But it feels great. I played for seven hours [Tuesday], so I’m really tired, but we had a day off [Wednesday], so we’ll get a little rest, and I’ll be ready.”
Morgina’s opponent will be Robin Anderson, a freshman from UCLA. While she has no specific strategy in mind, Morgina is prepared for a competitive match.
“I know that she’s a very good player,” Morgina said. “I just have to play my game.”