University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
South Carolina
LADY VOL TENNIS SUFFERS 4-2 SETBACK TO SOUTH CAROLINA
March 11, 2007 | Women's Tennis
March 11, 2007
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Despite putting forth one of its gutsiest performances of the season, the No. 16 University of Tennessee women's tennis team (6-5, 1-3 Southeastern Conference) dropped a 4-2 decision to the 53rd-ranked University of South Carolina (9-3, 3-1 SEC), Sunday afternoon at the UT Varsity Courts. Seniors Blakeley Griffith and Victoria Jones picked up the lone wins for the Lady Vols on the day.
"We played with a lot of heart today and competed as hard as we are capable of doing," UT co-head coach Mike Patrick said. "There is nothing more we could have asked from our team today. Unfortunately, South Carolina fought hard as well and we came up a few points short.
"The effort that Connor gave us this afternoon was nothing short of unbelievable," Patrick said. "Hopefully, we can take a few days to heal up before we hit the road again for two tough matches in San Diego."
The doubles point went South Carolina's way after it picked up wins at the No. 1 and 2 positions. The Gamecocks struck the first blow with the 28th-ranked pairing of Gira Schofield and Ana Marija Zubori claiming an 8-2 victory on center court over UT freshman Connor Vogel and Caitlin Whoriskey.
The Lady Vols then used a strong effort by Jones and freshman Zsófia Zubor to tie it up at one win each, as the Orange and White tandem cruised by Laura Ganzer and Megan McGavock, 8-2, at the third doubles slot. USC, however, clinched the initial point of the match with an 8-4 win on the second court, as Christyn Lucas and Natasa Vuckovic took out the UT duo of Griffith and sophomore Samantha Orlin.
It was the Gamecocks, once again, who put up the first points during the singles portion of the contest, with Vuckovic sneaking by Orlin in straight sets, 6-2, 7-5. Griffith, the No. 22 singles player in the country, quickly followed, however, with a 6-3, 7-5, center court victory over the 119th-ranked Schofield, to give UT its first tally of the day and cut the USC lead in half. Fellow classmate Jones evened the score at 2-2 just moments later at No. 5 singles, when she defeated McGavock, 6-4, 6-3.
The battle had just begun, however, as the final trio of singles contests were all tightly contested and moved to decisive third sets. After splitting the first two frames in her match on court three, Whoriskey looked to have a commanding lead at 5-2 in the final set. Her opponent, Zubori, had other ideas though and rallied for the, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, win to put her squad up 3-2. The Gamecocks were then able to clinch the match at the final spot in the singles lineup, as Ganzer claimed a 6-4, 0-6, 6-4, victory in a hard-fought, back-and-forth, contest with Zubor.
The one match that remained unfinished, due to the fact that USC had already been ensured of the match victory, may have been the most exciting of the day. Germantown, Tenn., native and UT rookie, Vogel, battled the 102nd-rated Vanessa Pinto at the No. 2 position all afternoon. After dropping the first frame, 2-6, she extended the contest to a third after emerging victorious in a second-set tiebreaker, in which she fell behind 2-4, before rattling off five consecutive points for the win. The third set was deadlocked at 3-3 when the match was stopped.
The Orange and White will finish off the non-conference portion of their schedule with matches against No. 21 Duke and No. 2 Notre Dame at the San Diego Invitational next week. Tennessee will face the Blue Devils on March 14 and the Fighting Irish two days later, with first serve set for 1 p.m. ET in both contests.
| SINGLES RESULTS | |
| 1. No. 22 Blakeley Griffith (UT) def. No. 119 Gira Schofield (SC) | 6-3, 7-5 |
| 2. Connor Vogel (UT) vs. No. 102 Vanessa Pinto (SC) | 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 3-3, unfinished |
| 3. Ana Marija Zubori (SC) def. Caitlin Whoriskey (UT) | 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 |
| 4. Natasa Vuckovic (SC) def. Samantha Orlin (UT) | 6-2, 7-5 |
| 5. Victoria Jones (UT) def. Megan McGavock (SC) | 6-4, 6-3 |
| 6. Laura Ganzer (SC) def. Zsófia Zubor (UT) | 6-4, 0-6, 6-4 |
| DOUBLES RESULTS | |
| 1. No. 28 Schofield/Zubori (SC) def. Vogel/Whoriskey (UT) | 8-2 |
| 2. Lucas/Vuckovic def. Griffith/Orlin (UT) | 8-4 |
| 3. Jones/Zubor (UT) def. Ganzer/McGavock (SC) | 8-2 |
