Miami University
South Carolina
Tennis Falls to No. 33 South Carolina
1/23/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Jan. 23, 2009
HAMILTON, Ohio -- Miami jumped out to an early edge in doubles, but were unable to hold the lead and never recovered in a 6-1 loss to No. 33 South Carolina Friday afternoon. The match was played indoors at the Riverside Athletic Club.
Miami won the first doubles match when Riekie Honiball and Brintney Larson took an 8-3 decision at the No. 3 position. While South Carolina was pulling even by handing Anastasia Dracheva and Monica Gorny their first loss of the season, 8-4 at No. 2, RedHawks Stephanie Danesis and Megan Martzolf were building a comfortable lead in the No. 1 position.
However, USC's Natasa Vuckovic and Ana Marija Zubori, ranked 33rd in the country, rallied from 4-0 and 6-2 down to earn 9-7 victory.
Danesis, who missed out on a chance to serve for the doubles point, atoned at No. 3 singles, posting a 7-5, 6-0 victory that tied the match at 1. But the Gamecocks captured the remaining tightly-contest singles matches for the victory.
Honiball lost 6-4, 6-4 in the No. 6 singles match, before Martzolf dropped a tough match at No. 4. She was beaten 6-2 in the opening set, but took an early lead in the second set, before falling 7-5 in a tiebreaker.
Larson forced the only three-set match, rallying from a 6-4 deficit with a 6-0 victory. However, she suffered a similar 6-4 fate in the clincher. Gorny lost a pair of 7-5 sets to Zubori, ranked 14th in the country, in a No. 2 showdown before Dracheva gave up an early lead in a 5-7, 7-5, 1-0 setback. With the match already decided the third set was decided by a 10-5 super tiebreaker.
"On one level, it is disappointing to let this one slip away in doubles," Head Coach Howard Joffe said. "But the take-away point for the girls is that we can play with anyone. This is a process that we are going through and we are just four matches into a tough schedule. We are way ahead of the learning curve and these narrow losses will soon turn into wins."
The task doesn't get any easier as Miami hits the road for four straight against teams from major conferences. After facing Big Ten member Illinois on Sunday, Miami faces Kentucky, Iowa State and Minnesota before returning home against Xavier on Feb. 14.
No. 33 South Carolina at Miami (Ohio)
Jan. 23, 2009 at Riverside Athletic Club (Hamilton, Ohio)
No. 3 Doubles
Riekie Honiball/Brintney Larson (MIAMI) def. Suzanna Mansour/Ashley Miller (USC) 8-3
No. 2 Doubles
Miljana Jocic/Gira Schofield (USC) def. Anastasia Dracheva/Monica Gorny (MIAMI) 8-4
No. 1 Doubles
#33 Natasa Vuckovic/Ana Marija Zubori (USC) def. Stephanie Danesis/Megan Martzolf (MIAMI) 9-7
No. 3 Singles
Stephanie Danesis (MIAMI) def. Natasa Vuckovic (USC) 7-5, 6-0
No. 6 Singles
Ashley Miller (USC) def. Riekie Honiball (MIAMI) 6-4, 6-4
No. 4 Singles
Miljana Jocic (USC) def. Megan Martzolf (MIAMI) 6-2, 7-6 (7-5)
No. 5 Singles
Suzanna Mansour (USC) def. Brintney Larson (MIAMI) 6-4, 0-6, 6-4
No. 2 Singles
#14 Ana Marija Zubori (USC) def. Monica Gorny (MIAMI) 7-5, 7-5
No. 1 Singles
#71 Gira Schofield (USC) def. Anastasia Dracheva (MIAMI) 5-7, 7-5, 1-0 (10-5)
