USC plays UK in first round of SEC Tournament
After a long 2012 season, the South Carolina women’s tennis team heads to Oxford, Miss., for its first taste of the postseason at the SEC Tournament.
Having posted a 5-6 conference record, South Carolina claimed the sixth seed in the tournament and will play 11th-seed Kentucky in the first round.
“They will be focused, and they will be ready to compete,” said Katarina Petrovic, interim head coach. “Everything in the SEC is going to be competitive because it is one of the top conferences in the country. I know that all of those teams will be ready for us, so we have to be just as ready for them.”
The SEC boasts one of the deepest fields in the country when it comes to women’s tennis. Six teams stand in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Top 25, and two in the Top 10. No. 3 Florida, No. 11 Alabama, No. 7 Georgia, No. 16 Ole Miss and No. 23 Vanderbilt are the only teams seeded ahead of the Gamecocks.
Kentucky, South Carolina’s first-round opponent, has struggled to produce any sort of positive results this season. The team has claimed one victory in conference play and has lost 13 of its last 14 games. The Gamecocks also handed the Wildcats a 6-1 defeat earlier this season in Columbia.
“We’ve already beaten Kentucky this year, so that is good for our confidence,” Petrovic said. “I am very confident in us. I think we are playing better than we were six weeks ago when we originally played them. The most important thing is keeping that same intensity from six weeks ago.”
If South Carolina makes it past Kentucky, the three-seeded Georgia Bulldogs will be waiting for them at the next round. Georgia differs from Kentucky’s team, as it has held a top-10 national ranking for most of the year and has only lost three games all season. Georgia also swept South Carolina 6-1 earlier this season in Athens.
“I never like to mention teams before we actually are playing them,” Petrovic said at the mention of Georgia. “As a coach I would like to clear our first hurdle at Kentucky before we take on a good matchup like Georgia.”
South Carolina comes into the tournament with some momentum, winning four of the last six games, all in conference. Anya Morgina and Jaklin Alawi have led off the Gamecocks at the one and two spots all year, respectively, with a combined 27-12 match record.
Other than that, the Gamecocks have seen little stability in their lineup, especially in the lower half. South Carolina has used five different people at the five singles spot and three in the six spot.
The Gamecocks have also been blessed with the recent return of 2011 all-conference selection Dijana Stojic. After missing substantial time with back injuries this season, she has come back in her last three matches to make a big impact for South Carolina.
Stojic won her first two singles matches against LSU and Arkansas and was a part of the duo, along with Alawi, that beat the No. 1 doubles team in the country Sunday against Florida.
“Now with Dijana Stojic back we can have our full lineup,” Petrovic said. “I think that we are much stronger than we were in the past and the number five and six spots have been playing much better lately. Plus, as a coach, when I know I have a player like Dijana who can win every third set match, it makes you feel more comfortable too.”
This year marks the first in 29 that late head coach Arlo Elkins won’t be watching his team compete in the postseason.
“Everything will be the same, even with him not here,” Petrovic said. “The girls will be competitive, and we’ll try and make all of Gamecock country proud.”