May 12, 2001

TALLAHASSEE, FL.--The 39th-ranked Florida State women's tennis team fought to the end against No. 23 South Carolina in the first round of the NCAA regional tournament in Tempe, A.Z., but the Game Cocks avoided the upset with a 4-2 win. The loss drops FSU's overall record to 14-11 while USC improves to 15-8 on the season.

South Carolina took a 1-0 lead with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles. In singles play the Game Cooks moved ahead 2-0 with a win at the No. 5 position before freshman Samantha Schoeffel put the Noles on the board with a 6-3, 6-4 win over USC's Katarina Markovski at No. 2. Next the Game Cocks would add a third point to their score with a straight set victory at No. 6. However, senior Nanette Duxin at No. 4 would move the Seminoles within one as she defeated Lynn Yin Tan 6-1, 6-4.

Florida State was now pressured to win the remaining two matches. Junior Jessica Balbuena at No. 3 singles was down a set and 2-5 against USC's Kathy Boyanovich before fighting back to take the second set 7-5 and force the match into a third and deciding set. On court No. 1 Alida Gallovits had taken the first set 6-4 but dropped the second 4-6 to USC's Jennifer Radman. After two and a half hour of play, Radman would come through for the Game Cooks to take the third set, 6-3, thereby clinching the match for South Carolina. The final score read 4-2 in favor of the Game Cocks.

South Carolina's opponent in the second round of the NCAA tournament will be either No. 8 Arizona State or Massachusetts. The winner of that match was yet to be decided at the time of this release.

Box Score

#39 Florida State 2

#23 South Carolina 4

Singles

1. (#93) Jennifer Radman (USC) def. (#65) Alida Gallovits (FSU) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3

2. Samantha Schoeffel (FSU) def. Katarina Markovski (USC) 6-3, 6-4

3. Jessica Balbuena (FSU) v. Kathy Boyanovich (USC) DNF

4. Nanette Duxin (FSU) def. Lynn Yin Tan (USC) 6-1, 6-4

5. Tamara Sutton (USC) def. Christina Denny (FSU) 6-1, 6-2

6. Leigh Eichelberger (USC) def. Marina Raic (FSU) 6-2, 6-3

Doubles

1. (#31) Boyanovich/Radman (USC) def. Balbuena/Schoeffel (FSU) 8-5

2. (#35) Eichelberger/Tan (USC) v. Duxin/Gallovits (FSU) DNF

3. Catherine Brown/Markowski (USC) def. Raic/Natalie Carratala' (FSU) 8-6

-FSU-