March 18, 2011

UNCG (9-3, 3-0 SoCon) at Davidson (4-10, 0-2 SoCon), March 19, 1 p.m., Covington Tennis Courts, Davidson, N.C.

Storylines

• Southern Conference leader UNCG returns to league play Saturday when it wraps up a four-match road swing at Davidson. The match is set for 1 p.m. at the Wildcats' Covington Tennis Courts.

• Both teams are coming off 5-2 wins over Charlotte. The Wildcats beat the 49ers on Wednesday, while UNCG topped Charlotte on Thursday.

• Against the 49ers, UNCG picked up doubles wins at Nos. 1 and 2 and got singles wins at Nos. 1, 2, 5 and 6.

• Since mixing up the doubles lineup against Wofford on March 5, UNCG has won the doubles point in four of its five matches. The Spartans were just 5-16 in doubles play through their first seven matches, but are 10-5 since retooling the lineup.

• UNCG has won two straight over Davidson, taking 5-2 wins in each of the last two seasons. Davidson's last win in the series was in 2008, when the Wildcats took a 6-1 win in Davidson, N.C. Saturday's contest will be the third in the last four meetings between the teams to take place in Davidson.

• With wins at Nos. 5 and 6 singles at Charlotte, the Spartans continued to dominate at the bottom of the lineup. UNCG is 11-1 at No. 6 on the season and 9-3 at No. 5.

• Three freshmen lead UNCG in singles wins on the year. Zach Reece, a redshirt freshman, is 8-1 on the season in dual play and 16-5 overall on the year. True freshmen Ahmet Sarioglu and Chanon Varapongsittikul are both 9-3 in dual play and 16-7 overall on the season.

• Orcun Seyrek, UNCG's No. 1 singles player, is 7-5 in duals and 15-7 overall. Yaroslav Litus is 7-5 in duals and 13-8, while Timion Meijs is 11-8 overall on the season and 7-5 in dual action.

• Sarioglu and Varapongstittikul are 5-2 as a doubles pairing and 3-1 in dual play, but saw its five-match winning streak snapped at Chattanooga on March 12. Litus and Jacob Wright are 11-5 overall as a doubles team and 6-4 in duals.

• Davidson is 4-10 overall and 0-2 in the SoCon this season and had lost five straight prior to Wednesday's win over Charlotte. The Wildcats have faced five ranked teams so far, dropping matches to No. 57 NC State, No. 53 Clemson, No. 73 Harvard and No. 37 Wake Forest and topping No. 60 USC Upstate.

• Davidson is 0-2 in league play by the slimmest of margins. The Wildcats opened with a 4-3 loss to Chattanooga on March 6 and fell by the same score to Elon on March 12. The Mocs picked up the win on the strength of the doubles point, while the Phoenix grabbed four wins in singles play to rally after Davidson won doubles.

• Walker Lyons is Davidson's lone singles player with a winning record, as he is 7-6, mostly at No. 4. Calum Gee, Kevin Moore and Joe Schafer are all .500 on the season, with Gee sporting a 5-5 record, Moore at 6-6 and Schafer at 7-7.

• In doubles play, Chris Mark and Schafer are 2-1 at No. 1 but are the only winning doubles tandem on the roster. Ethan Kallick and Lyons are 5-7 together, all at No. 2, while Gee and Schafer are 4-7 at No. 1.

- UNCG -