April 25, 2012

Anya Morgina (left) and Jaklin Alawi (right) smile after beating Clemson in February during a post-match interview.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Junior Jaklin Alawi and senior Anya Morgina from the South Carolina women’s tennis team were named to the All-SEC Second Team, the conference office announced Wednesday morning.

Alawi, in her first year at Carolina after transferring from Long Beach State, has led the Gamecocks in singles and doubles victories all season. She holds a 25-8 record playing singles and has occupied the No. 2 position the entire year, where she is 14-6. Alawi posted a 6-5 record there in SEC play and currently holds a national ranking of 88th. She has been ranked all spring and ascended as high as No. 33. In doubles, she posted a 22-11 combined record with four different partners and is 15-5 at No. 1 doubles. She is ranked No. 41 with Dijana Stojic and No. 65 with Morgina. Alawi and Stojic recently defeated Allie Will and Sofie Oyen from Florida, the No. 1-ranked team in the country for several weeks this spring and still rated as the top duo in the land. On Monday, Alawi was named the team’s MVP at the annual Gamecock Gala.

Morgina earned her second consecutive nod to an All-SEC Team, as she received a place on the first team a year ago. She has played No. 1 singles all season long for the second year in a row and owns a 14-6 record at the position. Morgina went 4-6 in SEC play atop the lineup and is 20-9 overall. Like Alawi, she has held a national ranking in singles all spring and currently resides at No. 42. She achieved a career-high ranking of 20th earlier in the spring, the highest for a Gamecock since the 2009 campaign. For doubles, Morgina has teamed up with four different partners throughout the season for a combined record of 18-10. She owns a 13-9 mark in dual matches and went 7-2 playing the No. 1 position for a portion of the season with Alawi.

A complete list of the awards follows.

Coach of the Year: Jenny Mainz, Alabama
Player of the Year: Lauren Embree, Florida
Freshman of the Year: Lauren Herring, Georgia
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Courtney McLane, Alabama

All-SEC First Team
Alexa Guarachi, Alabama
Mary Anne Macfarlane, Alabama
Lauren Embree, Florida
Joanna Mather, Florida
Sofie Oyen, Florida
Allie Will, Florida
Chelsey Gullickson, Georgia
Lauren Herring, Georgia
Maho Kowase, Georgia
Kristi Boxx, Ole Miss
Brynn Boren, Tennessee
Jackie Wu, Vanderbilt

All-SEC Second Team
Courtney McLane, Alabama
Alexandra Cercone, Florida
Caroline Hitimana, Florida
Kate Fuller, Georgia
Nadja Gilchrist, Georgia
Lilly Kimbell, Georgia
Abby Guthrie, Ole Miss
Caroline Rohde-Moe, Ole Miss
Erin Stephens, Ole Miss
Jaklin Alawi, South Carolina
Anya Morgina, South Carolina
Natalie Pluskota, Tennessee
Kata Szekely, Tennessee
Marie Casares, Vanderbilt
Lauren Mira, Vanderbilt

All-Freshman Team
Lauren Herring, Georgia
Marie Casares, Vanderbilt
Ashleigh Antal, Vanderbilt
Julia Jones, Ole Miss
Erin Stephens, Ole Miss
Stephanie Fox, Kentucky
Edmée Morin-Kougoucheff, Kentucky