Ferris and Kwok defeat ranked doubles team
March 15, 2008
SALT LAKE CITY - The University of Utah women's tennis team competed against the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday for a hard fought battle. The match came down to the No. 5 singles where Miljana Jocic defeated Leigh Walsh 0-6, 6-4, 7-5. The Utes fell 4-3 to South Carolina to give them a 9-5 season record.
The Utes came out of the gate ready to battle with everything they had on Saturday against South Carolina. In doubles play, Elizabeth Ferris and Emily Kwok faced No. 19 Gira Schofield and Ana Zubori at the top spot. The Utes got into their rhythm, making striking plays that went unanswered by the Gamecock duo. Ferris and Kwok finished up first for the Utes with an 8-4 victory. The Ute duo will look to regain a doubles ranking this week as the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) releases updated team, singles, and doubles rankings on Tuesday.
Erin Monson and Andrea Maughan couldn't seal the deal at the No. 3 spot against Natasa Vuckovic and Jelena Rajic, falling 8-6 to the Gamecocks. At the No. 2 spot, Evgenia Kryuchkova and Leigh Walsh looked to finish out for the Utes to earn the doubles point. Megan McGavock and Suzanna Mansour from South Carolina stepped in to challenge the Ute duo. The Ute duo pushed them to their breaking points every step of the way, but were unable to catch the final edge on the match. McGavock and Monsour took the match 9-7 to give South Carolina a 1-0 lead with the doubles point.
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In singles play, Kryuchkova finished up first at the No. 2 spot. The Ute face No. 69 Ana Zubori from the Gamecocks squad. Zubori got into the Ute's head early into the match to force a casual 6-0, 6-3 win over Kryuchkova. Next to finish up was Kwok at the No. 3 spot, where she faced Natasa Vuckovic. The Ute shut down the match in straight sets for a 6-3, 6-3 victory.
Monson played at the No. 4 spot on Saturday against Suzanna Mansour. The Ute struggled in the first set to find her bearings, but was able to hit a 7-5 win. In the second set, Monson buckled down to hit a powerful 6-3 win to tie up the overall match at 2-2.
At the No. 6 spot, Bourdages battled Megan McGavock from the Gamecocks. McGavock played a high level game that the Ute was unable to match on Saturday. The Gamecock dominated the match for a 6-1, 6-2 win.
Ferris, currently ranked No. 52 in singles play, faced her first top 25 opponent since defeating No. 1 Aurelija Miseviciute from Arkansas (6-2, 3-6, 7-5) on Jan. 20. The Uted took on No. 23 Gira Schofield at the top spot for a well-deserved victory. Ferris shut down the Gamecock 6-1 in the first set, but couldn't close out the win in the second set, falling 6-4 to Schofield. Ferris mustered up all of her energy in the last set to shut down the match with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 victory.
With the match tied 3-3, both teams were relying at their No. 5 players to pull through at the last moment. Walsh faced Miljana Jocic for a hard fought three-set battle. Walsh dominated the first set 6-0, but fell 4-6, 5-7 in sets two and three.
#53 Utah 3, #33 South Carolina 4 Singles: 1. #52 Elizabeth Ferris (Utah) def. #23 Gira Schofield (USC); 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 2. #69 Ana Zubori (USC) def. Evgenia Kryuchkova (Utah); 6-0, 6-3 3. Emily Kwok (Utah) def. Natasa Vuckovic (USC); 6-3, 6-3 4. Erin Monson (Utah) def. Suzanna Mansour (USC); 7-5, 6-3 5. Miljana Jocic (USC) def. Leigh Walsh (Utah); 0-6, 6-4, 7-5 6. Megan McGavock (USC) def. Karine Bourdages (Utah); 6-1, 6-2
Doubles: 1. Ferris/Kwok (Utah) def. #19 Schofield/Zubori (USC); 8-4 2. McGavock/Mansour (USC) def. Walsh/Kryuchkova (Utah); 9-7 3. Vuckovic/Rajic (USC) def. Maughan/Monson (Utah); 8-6
