Gamecocks fall to Vanderbilt to go 1-3 over spring break
The South Carolina women’s tennis team posted a 1-3 record over the past week, most recently falling 5-2 to No. 22 Vanderbilt on Sunday in Columbia.
The Gamecocks (8-4, 1-3 SEC) were able to get victories at No. 3 singles from Dominika Kanakova, No. 4 singles from Katerina Popova, and No. 3 doubles from the tandem of Popova and Josefin Andersson. Vanderbilt won four of the six singles matches, and two of the three doubles matches to win the doubles point.
“I was pleased with the effort on courts one and three for doubles,” said interim head coach Katarina Petrovic. “They fought well. I thought we had energy today. But what I minded in doubles is that I need all six girls to be on the same page; that means all three doubles. When that happens, we can probably get the doubles point.”
In Columbia on Friday, March 9, the Gamecocks won their first SEC contest with a 6-1 victory over Kentucky. South Carolina won five of six singles matches, and two of three doubles matches to earn the win. Thirty fourth-ranked first singles player Anya Morgina shined in a three set win over Kentucky’s Jessica Stiles, while 64th-ranked second singles player Jaklin Alawi rebounded from a loss in the previous match against Tennessee with an easy straight sets win over Caitlin McGraw.
“It was really important for Jaklin to get that win today,” Petrovic said. “She told me one thing after the match, which was she took care of business. Jaklin definitely did that today.”
The Wildcats lone point came at third singles, where Khristina Blajkevitch won a tight match, winning a super tiebreaker 10-8 to defeat USC’s Kanakova after they split two sets.
On Sunday, March 4, the Gamecocks lost a close 4-3 decision in Knoxville to a Tennessee team ranked No. 5 in the nation. USC split the six singles matches, but got swept in the three doubles matches, giving Tennessee the victory thanks to the doubles point. South Carolina’s top three singles players all lost, but Popova, Adriana Pereira and Andersson all won at four, five and six singles respectively, to split the singles points. In the top two singles matchups featuring all ranked players, Tennessee’s No. 35 Brynn Boren defeated USC’s Morgina 6-1, 6-1, and in a marathon thriller, No. 37 Kata Szekely of UT defeated Alawi 7-5 in a third-set tiebreaker after the two split the first two sets. Petrovic was proud of her players for fighting so hard in what she knew would be a close match based on recent years.
“I was talking to the girls yesterday that when we play Tennessee, usually the score has been 4-3 in the past few years,” Petrovic said. “What I expected from them was to give me 100 percent and full effort. Everybody worked hard; I have no complaints. Overall, there’s nothing more that I can ask of them because they competed so well.”
In Athens on Friday, March 2, the Gamecocks were beaten 6-1 by No. 4 Georgia. The Bulldogs won all three doubles matches and five out of six singles matches. South Carolina’s lone win came from Pereira, who defeated No. 69 Kate Fuller of Georgia in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. Georgia won all the other singles matches in straight sets. Pereira earned praise from her coach for her victory, as did Popova for fighting hard in a losing effort, 7-5, 6-4, against No. 41 Maho Kowase of Georgia.
“I was worried a little bit about Adriana since she didn’t play a singles match for over a week,” Petrovic said of Pereira. “She was in charge of the points and her footwork was amazing today. These were the two things that helped her win the match. That was a huge win for her and will help her confidence.”
Next weekend, the Gamecocks will be back in action as they take a break from SEC play and host two nonconference opponents at Carolina Tennis Center, Georgia State at 1 p.m. Saturday and Old Dominion at 11 a.m. Sunday.