April 1, 2011

UNCG (9-4, 4-0) vs. Furman (8-8, 5-0), April 2, 12 p.m., Mickel Tennis Center
UNCG vs. Wofford (10-9, 2-3), April 3, 12 p.m., Reeves Tennis Center

Storylines:

- UNCG will kick off its stretch of six straight Southern Conference matches this weekend as the Spartans travel to Furman and Wofford. The Spartans and Paladins will meet on Saturday at 12 p.m. in a battle of two undefeated teams in the conference, while UNCG will face the Terriers on Sunday at 12 p.m.

- Live stats of the Furman match can be found by clicking here.

- On Thursday, the Spartans hosted Charleston Southern at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center and came away with a 5-1 victory. UNCG swept all three doubles matches for the sixth time this season to take the early 1-0 lead. The Spartans would continue to cruise as they won four of the five singles matches. The final singles match was in the third set, but had to be called after the teams ran out of time at the indoor courts.

- Last 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.

- Furman comes into the match with an 8-8 overall record and is 5-0 so far in the SoCon. The Paladins are currently riding a four-match winning streak, with all of those coming against Southern Conference opponents. Last season, Furman narrowly edged UNCG, 4-3.

- The Terriers are 10-9 this season and 2-3 in the Southern Conference. The Terriers have lost four matches in a row heading into the weekend. Three of those matches were against SoCon schools, with the Terriers losing by a combined score of 20-1 in those matches.

- Sophomore transfer Niltooli Wilkins has provided a spark for the Spartans from her No. 1 singles position. She is nearly perfect at 12-1 so far in the spring and has also teamed up with Lucy Dougherty in doubles to post an equally impressive 11-2 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.

- UNCG -