Gamecocks split weekend matches against Ole Miss, Mississippi State The No. 32 South Carolina women’s tennis team defeated Mississippi State on Sunday 4-0, giving the Gamecocks a 1-1 record in their matches played this weekend.
The Gamecocks (11-5, 2-4 SEC) were able to sweep the Bulldogs in a match that was delayed multiple times due to heavy rains in Columbia with a doubles sweep and wins from Jaklin Alawi at second singles, Katerina Popova at fourth singles and Adriana Pereira at fifth singles. No. 45 senior Anya Morgina’s match with Alexandra Perper of Mississippi State was suspended when the rains came, with each player winning a 6-4 set. Because South Carolina had already clinched the victory up 4-0, it wasn’t necessary to complete any of the singles matches still in progress when the bad weather arrived. Dominika Kanakova trailed Ekaterina Iakovleva 6-7, 0-3 at third singles, and Josefin Andersson was up a set on Roseline Dion at sixth singles when matches were halted. The match was delayed 50 minutes at the start because of light rain that started 15 minutes before the match was to begin at 1 p.m.
Interim head coach Katarina Petrovic was proud of her team’s victory, and especially pleased with the play of the doubles teams.
“We played really well,” she said. “I thought we were really good in doubles today. I can’t be more proud of my team right now. It was a tough match, but we managed to win.”
She acknowledged that it can be tough to get into rhythm in a match that starts outside and has to be moved indoors due to weather. She also said she wished the match could have been completed because her team played so well. She praised Popova, who with yesterday’s straight-set victory has won 11 of her last 12, and has a team-best 13-3 record in dual-match play.
“During the recruiting process, I saw great tennis from Katerina,” Petrovic said. “She’s the kind of player who always manages to win in the end. I know she struggled a little bit last year, but this is Katerina Popova playing her kind of tennis now.”
On Friday the Gamecocks suffered a 5-2 defeat against No. 19 Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss. The Gamecocks lost the doubles point, losing two out of three matches, with a victory coming from the pair of Andersson and Popova. In singles, Morgina lost a tough three-set match 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 at the first position, playing No. 12 Kristi Boxx of Ole Miss. The Gamecocks’ two points came from victories from Alawi at second singles — who handily defeated No. 72 Caroline Rohde-Moe 6-1, 6-1 — and from Popova, who also won easily against Julia Jones 6-3, 6-0. Pereira also played a tight three-setter, losing to Abby Guthrie, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
Petrovic lauded her team’s effort against an Ole Miss team that she knew was talented, but stressed the need for improvement, particularly at the bottom of the lineup.
“These are really tough matches,” Petrovic said. “We knew Mississippi would be really good this year. Overall, we fought, but I thought we struggled at a couple positions. We have to do a better job at the bottom of the lineup. It’s very tough to win matches like this if you can’t compete at the bottom, and we definitely need to improve there.”
She commended Alawi for dominating a match against a top-100 opponent that she knew would be very tough to beat.
“I knew that Jackie would have a very tough opponent. [Rohde-Moe] played number three last year against [Popova] and beat her twice,” Petrovic said. “But Jackie came out strong, she played amazing and so far this is one of the best matches she ever played. She really worked hard, even in the beginning of the second set, where she sometimes loses focus.”
The Gamecocks will play their final two road games of the season this weekend, traveling to Alabama to face No. 15 Alabama on Friday and No. 64 Auburn on Sunday.