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Spartans to host Charlotte on Saturday; venue changed
UNCG (7-4) vs. Charlotte (8-9), March 26, 12 p.m., Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center
Storylines:
- Coming off a tough road loss to Liberty on Thursday, UNCG will look to right the ship this weekend as it hosts Charlotte on Saturday at 12 p.m. The match has been moved indoors to the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center due to the threat of inclement weather.
- On Thursday, the Spartans traveled up to Liberty and fell in a tight match, 5-2. UNCG took the doubles point to start the match with wins at No. 1 and No. 2 and extended its lead to 2-0 with a win by Niltooli Wilkins at No. 1 singles. However, the Flames won the final five singles matches, four coming down to three sets, to win the match, 5-2.
- Charlotte comes into the match with an 8-9 overall record and is 1-0 so far in the Atlantic 10. The 49ers won their first three matches of the season, but have currently lost five of their last six matches, dating back to a 5-2 loss to Liberty on Feb. 27.
- Last weekend, UNCG defeated Appalachian State, 7-0, on Saturday before cruising past Western Carolina on Sunday, 6-1, to move to a perfect 4-0 in the Southern Conference. The Spartans swept all of the doubles matches on both days and won 11 of a possible 12 singles matches.
- Sophomore transfer Niltooli Wilkins has provided a spark for the Spartans from her No. 1 singles position. She is nearly perfect at 10-1 so far in the spring and has also teamed up with Lucy Dougherty in doubles to post an equally impressive 9-2 record.
- Earlier this month, Wilkins was named the SoCon Player of the Month as she went a perfect 4-0 in singles and 4-0 in doubles in the month of February. On Tuesday, Wilkins was named the SoCon Player of the Week for the second time this season. She was also honored as the SoCon Player of the Week on March 1 for her play against Chattanooga and Samford.
- Last Wednesday, UNCG suffered its first home defeat of the season as the Spartans fell to UNCW, 6-1. UNCG won the first doubles match, but narrowly dropped the other two, 8-6, to lose the doubles point. UNCG continued to falter in singles as it dropped five of the six matches, the lone win coming from Niltooli Wilkins at No. 1 singles.
- Last Monday, UNCG easily defeated UNC Asheville on the road, 6-1. The Spartans swept the doubles points with relative ease, before winning five of the six singles matches. UNCG won at No. 6 singles due to a forfeit by the Bulldogs after having just five healthy players available.
- On Feb. 26-27, the Spartans opened Southern Conference play with a pair of victories. UNCG started things on Saturday by sweeping Chattanooga 7-0 and then defeated No. 74 Samford, 4-3, to move to 2-0 in the league. The Spartans took the doubles point and all six singles matches against the Mocs. UNCG won the deciding doubles point against the Bulldogs on Sunday before splitting the singles matches.
- Back on Feb. 16, UNCG traveled to Greenville, N.C. to face East Carolina in a nonconference tilt. The Spartans got the match started off on a good note by taking the doubles points, but fell behind in singles after dropping the first two matches. UNCG came storming back though to take the final four singles matches, all coming in three sets, to defeat the Pirates, 5-2.
- Last season, the Spartans went 10-11 during the spring season. UNCG also had a 4-6 mark in Southern Conference matches to finish in seventh place as a team.
- At the conclusion of the season, the Spartans earned plenty of awards from the Southern Conference. Alex Whitehead was named second-team All-SoCon at the No. 1 singles position, while Annette Rios claimed second-team honors at No. 5 singles. Whitehead also teamed up with Mikayla Rogers to earn second-team All-SoCon at No. 3 doubles.
- Whitehead and Rios weren't done collecting postseason hardware as the duo were both named to the Southern Conference All-Freshman Team after the year was over.
- UNCG -
