Spartans set to face Georgia Southern in SoCon Quarterfinals

No. 2 UNCG (14-6, 9-1) vs. No. 7 Georgia Southern (10-10, 3-7), April 21, 10:30 a.m., Champions Club

Storylines:

- After sweeping Davidson on Monday afternoon in the regular-season finale, UNCG will now set its sights on the Southern Conference Championship at the Champions Club in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Spartans earned the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye and will face Georgia Southern in the quarterfinals on Thursday at 10:30 a.m.

- On Monday, UNCG hosted Davidson for Senior Day in a match that was originally scheduled for April 5, but was postponed due to inclement weather. The Spartans started the match by winning two of the three doubles matches. UNCG then turned it on in singles play by sweeping all six matches in straight sets for the 7-0 victory.

- Georgia Southern comes into the match with an even 10-10 overall record and was 3-7 in the SoCon during the regular season. On Wednesday, the seventh-seeded Eagles defeated No. 10 Western Carolina, 4-0, in the first round of the tournament. After winning the doubles point, Georgia Southern won at No. 1, 5 and 6 singles to clinch the victory.

- On Tuesday, four Spartans were honored on the first-team All-SoCon team. Niltooli Wilkins was named first-team in singles and also joined teammate Lucy Dougherty on the first-team doubles team. The duo of Stephanie Macfarlane and Alex Whitehead also were named first-team in doubles as they went 16-2 this season.

- Sophomore transfer Niltooli Wilkins has provided a spark for the Spartans from her No. 1 singles position. She is nearly perfect at 16-2 so far in the spring and has also teamed up with Lucy Dougherty in doubles to post an equally impressive 16-2 record.

- Earlier this month, Wilkins was named the SoCon Player of the Month for the second time this season. She was previously named the Player of the Month in February before earning the same honor for March. Wilkins was also been named the SoCon Player of the Week two times this season. She was also honored as the SoCon Player of the Week on March 1 for her play against Chattanooga and Samford.

- Last Friday, UNCG traveled to Gardner-Webb and the shorthanded Spartans fell to the Runnin' Bulldogs, 5-2. In preparation for Monday's match and the conference tournament on Wednesday, UNCG played with just four players. Dilara Yurtkuran and Mikayla Rogers pulled out straight-set wins at No. 2 and No. 3 singles, respectively.

- The Spartans made the short trip to backyard-rival Elon last Wednesday and came away with a 5-2 win. UNCG swept all three doubles matches for the ninth time this season and won the doubles point for the 15^th time this year. The Spartans carried that momentum into singles play as they won the first four matches to jump out to a 5-0 lead before Elon won the final two matches.

- On April 8 and 10 UNCG traveled to Georgia Southern and College of Charleston. The Spartans got the weekend started off right as they came away with a 6-1 win over the Eagles on Friday afternoon. That set the stage for a matchup against College of Charleston in a battle of 7-0 teams in the SoCon. The Spartans took the doubles point to go ahead early, but dropped five of the six singles matches as they eventually fell, 5-2.

- On April 2-3, UNCG hit the road and came away with a pair of Southern Conference wins. In a battle of undefeated teams in the league on Saturday, UNCG scored a narrow 4-3 win over Furman. The Spartans carried that success into Sunday as they defeated Wofford by the same 4-3 score. UNCG is now in first place at 6-0 in the SoCon this season.

- On March 31, 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.

- 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 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 -