February 4, 2011

UNCG (1-0) at UNC Asheville (1-0), Feb. 5, 3 p.m., Asheville, N.C.
UNCG (1-0) at No. 61 USC Upstate (0-4), Feb. 6, 1 p.m., Spartanburg, S.C.

Storylines

• UNCG's men's tennis team hits the road for a pair of nonconference matches this weekend, with a Saturday tilt at UNC Asheville and a Sunday contest at USC Upstate.

• The Spartans opened the spring portion of the 2010-11 campaign with a 4-3 win over defending Big South tournament champion Winthrop on Jan. 22. A pair of freshmen at the bottom of the lineup sealed the win for UNCG, as Ahmet Sarioglu won at No. 6 singles to knot the match at 3 and Chanon Varapongsittikul gutted out a 7-6 (7-4), 5-7, 6-4 win at No. 5 for the win.

• Senior Yaroslav Litus also picked up a singles win against the Eagles at No. 4, while junior Orcun Seyrek and Sarioglu took a win at No. 1 doubles and sophomore Timion Meijs and Varapongsittikul grabbed a win at No. 2 doubles.

• The win over Winthrop was UNCG's third straight in season-openers.

• The Spartans are coming off a 2009-10 campaign that saw them post a 17-6 overall record, win the Southern Conference tournament and advance to the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history. UNCG fell to six-time NCAA champion Georgia in the first round, 4-0.

• UNCG went 8-2 in SoCon play last season, leading the league for much of the season and finishing in third place.

• Seyrek, a two-time first-team All-SoCon selection and the 2008-09 SoCon Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, is ranked 11^th in the Carolina Regional in singles.

• UNC Asheville opened its season with a 6-1 win over Augusta State on Friday.

• UNCA went 6-14 last season, but brings back all seven letterwinners from that campaign. The Bulldogs were picked seventh in the preseason Big South poll after going 1-6 in the league last year.

• The Bulldogs participated in the UNCG Fall Invitational, with Nathan Hand going 3-0 in singles and 2-0 in doubles before the title matches in both were rained out.

• The USC Upstate Spartans enter play this weekend 0-4 and takes on Davidson on Saturday before squaring off with UNCG on Sunday.

• Upstate has played a brutal schedule so far, dropping a 7-0 match to No. 23 Georgia Tech to open the season, followed by losses to No. 53 Clemson and No. 47 San Diego at the ITA Kick-Off. The road hasn't gotten any easier for the Spartans, as they fell to No. 11 Georgia on Wednesday.

• Freshman Matias Di Pasquale has Upstate's lone singles win on the season, a 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory at No. 4 against Clemson.

• USC Upstate, which went 10-0 in the Atlantic Sun Conference last season, was picked fourth in this year's preseason poll. The Spartans lost three key seniors from their championship team.

- UNCG -