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WOMEN’S TENNIS . Women’s Tennis Schedule DATE OPPONENT TIME ■■ --——— m March 1 at Mississippi State 2:30 p.m. March 3 at Mississippi ^p-m. March 8 . vsASU 2 p.m. March 10 vs. Arkansas 1 p.m. March 13 at College of TBA __Charleston _ March 15 vs. Vanderbilt 2 p.m. March 17 at Kentucky 12 p.m. March 24 vs. Virginia TBA | _ Commonwealth __ a March 29 at Auburn ___ TBA g PP March 31 at Alabama TBA I"" April 5 vs. Georgia _ 2 p.m. April 7vs.Tennessee1 p.m. I April 12vs. Florida__1 p.m.^^ £...; ; ■>- >:/ ' —*r. ».■»>.,—_— PHOTO BY ROBERT GRUEN The USC women’s tennis team shut out North Carolina State in its last match. Conference play begins this weekend for Carolina Lady Gamecocks a strong mix of experience, youth BY MATT ROTHENBERG THE GAMECOCK The weather might be just start ing to warm up, but the Lady Gamecocks’ tennis season is al ready in full swing. Carolina (6-1) shutout North Carolina State in its last match and heads into SEC play this weekend. Arlo Elkins, in his 19th season as head coach, fields a squad with six returnees, including five starters, four of whom are seniors. Elkins also added four newcomers, two with collegiate experience. Overall, he feels good about his team so far. “We have four seniors in the starting lineup — these girls should be ready to play at this time,” Elkins said. “I’m pleased with the way they’re coming along. The seniors have taken the lead on this team.” This year’s squad will be the largest in Elkins’ tenure at USC. “As a group, I’ve never had more than eight (players),” he said. All the way from the bottom to the top of the lineup, we’re dead even.” In singles, Elkins will have a line up stacked with upperclassmen. All four seniors - Katarina Markovski, Jennifer Radman, Lynn-Yin Tan and Tamara Sutton - team with ju niors Kathy Boyanovich and Jodi Kenoyer to bring significant expe rience to the courts. Kenoyer is the lone new face among this group, having transferred from Richmond. All the others look to continue their solid fall play and improve over the course of the spring. In doubles, Elkins will use the pairs of Radman-Boyanovich, Kenoyer-Tan and Markovski-Ayako Suzuki. Suzuki is a sophomore transfer from Texas Tech and was one of the top performers for the Red Raiders. Rounding out the team are junior Catherine Brown and freshmen Audrey George and Magdalena Wojdylo. “We’re looking for some big things from Magdalena, and Catherine Brown is going to have to step up,” Elkins noted. “I feel bad that some girls won’t travel, but I think it’s important that they work hard and push into the lineup. You’re only as strong as your weak est link, and if mine.push into the lineup, we’ll do well.” Starting this weekend, the Lady Gamecocks will face off against some of the best teams in the country “The SEC is the toughest confer ence hands down. Eleven teams were in the NCAA’s last year,” Elkins said. Florida, Georgia, Vanderbilt, Alabama and Tennessee should pro vide stiff competition for USC this spring and good preparation for a potential NCAA berth. “We just hope to hold our own in the SEC, and we want to upset one of the top two or three teams,” Elkins said. “But our goal is to win the NCAA team championship. To get there, we have to get to the NCAA’s first. I hope we get there and progress as much as we can.” Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@hotmail.com