Gamecocks fall to No. 2 Florida in weekend match
South Carolina’s tumultuous season ended on a low note Saturday, as the Gamecocks fell to the No. 2 Florida Gators 4-1.
This tennis season, South Carolina has put up with a tough conference schedule, the back injury of 2011 all conference pick Dijana Stojic and the tragic death of longtime head coach Arlo Elkins.
“I’ve believed in this team since day one,” said interim head coach Katarina Petrovic. “They executed everything that I told them to do today. Florida was in much better shape than us, I thought, and they didn’t hit into many unforced errors.”
Florida came into South Carolina’s senior night with No. 1 doubles team and singles player Allie Will.
“It’s always tough to play Florida,” said senior Stojic. “They are very consistent, and they are very deep through all of their spots.”
From the opening serve, South Carolina was out to prove they were better than their .500 conference record was advertising. Jaklin Alawi and Stojic dominated the No. 1 doubles team in the country in Florida’s Sofie Oyen and Will with a score of 8-3. That match tied the doubles draw after Anya Morgina and Dominika Kanakova dropped the first doubles match 8-5 to the NCAA’s No. 16 pair of Lauren Embree and Joanna Mather.
“I was very pleased with our team’s effort at the No. 1 doubles spot,” Petrovic said. “This is the first time we’ve ever beaten a No. 1 team. I knew when we got up early, I had to remind them of our game plan because of how good Florida is. But they executed, and we got a great win.”
The final doubles match brought a newfound tension to the Carolina Tennis Center as Adriana Pereira and Josefin Andersson stayed set for set with Florida’s Caroline Hitimana and Olivia Janowicz for 16 sets until a tiebreaker was set up. Pereira and Andersson won their first six points to claim the last set and first match point of the day.
“Sometimes I don’t know what to expect from Adriana when I put her out at doubles,” Petrovic said. “She pulled one out here for us today, and I’m just proud of the effort she put forth playing with Josefin for the first time today.”
That was the last sign of vulnerability the Gators showed as they made quick and thorough work of the Gamecocks’ singles players. All of Florida’s singles players came in ranked, including three in the top 25. Those three ladies, No. 1 Will, No. 10 Embree and No. 21 Mather, had straight set wins over Morgina, Alawi and Kanakova, respectively.
After Pereira fell in straight sets to Florida’s Alexandra Cercone, the match was called for time constraints at 4-1, leaving Stojic and Andersson unable to finish their games.
“I still can’t believe I’m almost done here,” Stojic said. “Today may be Senior Day, but there is still the tournament to be played so I can’t stop yet.”
The next hurdle for Stojic and the Gamecocks will be the SEC tournament, which kicks off first round play on Thursday.