UNCG to square off against Charleston Southern; venue changed
UNCG (8-4) vs. Charleston Southern (6-6), March 31, 2 p.m., Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center
Storylines:
- After cruising past Charlotte this past weekend, UNCG will look to carry its momentum into its lone midweek match as the Spartans will host Charleston Southern on Thursday at 2 p.m. The match was originally scheduled to be play outdoors, but due to the threat of inclement weather the match has been moved to the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center.
- On Saturday, UNCG hosted Charlotte at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center and cruised to a 6-1 victory. The Spartans swept all three doubles matches to get things going before winning five of the six singles matches, four of which came in straight sets.
- Charleston Southern comes into the match with a 6-6 overall record and is 3-2 so far in the Big South. The Buccaneers have won four of their last six matches, including a 6-1 win over Presbyterian on Saturday. Last season, Charleston Southern was able to edge the Spartans, 4-3.
- Sophomore transfer Niltooli Wilkins has provided a spark for the Spartans from her No. 1 singles position. She is nearly perfect at 11-1 so far in the spring and has also teamed up with Lucy Dougherty in doubles to post an equally impressive 10-2 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 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.
- On March 19-20, 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.
- On March 16, 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.
- On March 7, 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.
- At the conclusion of last 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.
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