University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
South Carolina
Lady Vols Outlast Gamecocks, 4-3
March 09, 2008 | Women's Tennis
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. ??? For the fourth time this season, the No. 17 University of Tennessee women???s tennis team (9-3, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) was able to post a come-from-behind victory, outlasting 29th-ranked South Carolina (7-4, 1-3 SEC) in an extremely hard-fought match, 4-3, Sunday afternoon at the UT Varsity Courts in Knoxville, Tenn. Freshman Jennifer Meredith sealed the deal for the Lady Vols, earning her team-best third match-clinching win of the season.
???This was a really good win for our team,??? UT co-head coach Mike Patrick said. ???South Carolina is very good. The top of their lineup is among the best in the conference, but we were able to get wins in the matches that we were supposed to.
???It was nice to have Caitlin (Whoriskey) back in our singles lineup today,??? Patrick said. ???Although the results don???t necessarily show it, she played well for her first match back in two weeks. Hopefully, she???ll be able to get back to 100 percent before we head to Hawaii for Spring Break next week.???
A native of Marietta, Ga., Meredith???s victory over Megan McGavock at the fifth singles position was one of the most memorable wins by a Lady Vol thus far this season. After dropping the first set, 2-6, and falling behind 2-5 in the second, things did not look good for the 5-3 rookie. Meredith continued to battle, however, fighting off McGavock???s efforts to claim the final five games of the second frame to win, 7-5, and force a deciding third set. With Tennessee???s fate squarely in her hands, Meredith continued to befuddle her opponent with a variety of slices and off-speed attacks to win 6-1 and give the Big Orange its ninth victory of the season and third in conference action.
Early on in the competition, it looked as if the Orange and White would have little trouble securing the match, as all three UT doubles teams emerged triumphant in their contests to give their squad the initial lead of the competition. The Tennessee tandem of sophomore Connor Vogel and Meredith started the Big Orange off on the right foot, downing the Gamecock combo of Suzanna Mansour and McGavock, 8-5, on the third court.
Just moments later, senior Ghizela Schutte and freshman Rosal??a Alda joined forces to take out the USC duo of Natasa Vuckovic and Miljana Jocic, 8-3, on court two to clinch the all-important doubles point for the Lady Vols. Although the point had already been decided, the nation???s seventh-ranked pairing of sophomores Caitlin Whoriskey and Zs??fia Zubor made it a clean sweep for Tennessee, defeating the No. 19-rated team of Gira Schofield and Ana Marija Zubori, 8-5, at the top position in the lineup.
Despite the strong effort in doubles, the Lady Vols came out of the gates slow in singles, dropping the first two matches and falling behind early in two others. Zubori, the 69th-ranked singles player in the country, got South Carolina on the scoreboard and knotted the score at 1-1 with a quick, 6-0, 6-0 triumph over Schutte on the second court. Within minutes, Vuckovic gave the Gamecocks their first lead of the afternoon, defeating Zubor, 6-2, 6-2, in the third slot.
Vogel, however, was able to tie the match back up at two apiece, notching a straight-set, 6-2, 6-2, win over Jelena Rajic on the sixth court. South Carolina quickly regained the lead though, and moved within one tally of winning the match thanks to a 6-1, 6-4, victory by No. 23 Schofield over the 61st-ranked Whoriskey on center court.
Facing a familiar do-or-die situation, the Big Orange barely even blinked before mounting a spectacular comeback. Junior Samantha Orlin started the rally with a gutsy, 7-6 (3), 6-1, win over Miljana Jocic on the fourth court, to set up Meredith???s heroics on the fifth. The victories marked the 15th of the season for both Orlin and Meredith, as both players are tied for the team lead this season.
The Orange and White has now competed in eight contests that have been decided by just one point this season. Fortunately for UT fans, the Lady Vols have come out on top in five of those matches, including two during the SEC portion of their schedule.
Tennessee will step out of conference play next week when it travels to Honolulu, Hawai???i for a pair of contests during Spring Break. The Big Orange will first square off with No. 10 Duke on Fri., March 15 at 4 p.m. ET, before taking on the University of Hawai???i at 10 p.m. ET two days later.
| #17 University of Tennessee 4, #29 University of South Carolina 3 | |
| Singles competition?? | |
| 1. #23 Gira Schofield (USC) def. #61 Caitlin Whoriskey (UT) | 6-1, 6-4 |
| 2. #69 Ana Marija Zubori (USC) def. Ghizela Schutte (UT) | 6-0, 6-0 |
| 3. Natasa Vuckovic (USC) def. Zsofia Zubor (UT) | 6-2, 6-2 |
| 4. Samantha Orlin (UT) def. Miljana Jocic (USC) | 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 |
| 5. Jennifer Meredith (UT) def. Megan McGavock (USC) | 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 |
| 6. Connor Vogel (UT) def. Jelena Rajic (USC) | 6-2, 6-2 |
| Doubles competition?? | |
| 1. #7 Caitlin Whoriskey/Zsofia Zubor (UT) def. #19 Gira Schofield/Ana Marija Zubori (USC) | 8-5 |
| 2. Ghizela Schutte/Rosalia Alda (UT) def. Natasa Vuckovic/Miljana Jocic (USC) | 8-3 |
| 3. Connor Vogel/Jennifer Meredith (UT) def. Megan McGavock/Suzanna Mansour (USC) | 8-5 |
| Match Notes?? | |
| Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (2,3,6,1,4,5) | |
