Oct. 9, 2008

Coach Elkins at Thursday's Practice in Evanston

EVANSTON, Ill. -- The South Carolina women's tennis team will compete in its third fall tournament starting Friday morning in Evanston, Ill., at the Wildcat Invitational hosted by Northwestern.

In addition to the Gamecocks and host Wildcats, other teams in the field include Akron, LSU, Michigan State, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, DePaul, Illinois and Notre Dame. The tournament consists of four flights of singles with 16 players in each and two flights of doubles with 16 teams in each draw.

The Gamecocks' Gira Schofield and Ana Marija Zubori are scheduled to play in the A flight of singles, while Natasa Vuckovic will compete in the B draw. Miljana Jocic is in the C flight and Ashley Miller will play in flight D. Zubori and Vuckovic as well as Schofield and Jocic will compete in the A draw of doubles. Miller and Suzanna Mansour will play in flight B as a team.

Two doubles matches and one singles will be played Friday followed by one doubles and two singles Saturday. Sunday, one doubles and one singles match are scheduled for each player. Play begins at 9 a.m. each day.

Zubori leads the team with a 5-1 record in singles this year. Three of her five victories came against players ranked in the top 50 this fall. She also holds the top mark in doubles as well at 4-2. Zubori is ranked No. 54 this fall and is 19th in doubles with Schofield.