UNCG returns to action against Indiana on Sunday

Lucy Dougherty

UNCG (0-1) vs. Indiana (0-0), Jan. 22, Durham, N.C., 5:30 p.m.

Storylines

- UNCG heads to Durham, N.C., on Sunday to take on Indiana in a neutral-site match as the Spartans seeks their first win of the season. The match will be at Duke's Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center.

- The Spartans opened the spring season with a 7-0 loss at No. 4 North Carolina on Wednesday. Niltooli Wilkins came closest to getting a win for UNCG, putting up a strong fight at No. 1 singles before ultimately falling 7-5, 7-5. In doubles play, 40^th-ranked Wilkins and Lucy Dougherty dropped their first match as a ranked tandem.

- Wilkins and Dougherty went 9-5 together in the fall with a win over a top-10 team at the UVa Fall Invitational. The duo went 20-3 together last season, with an 18-2 dual mark. This fall, they won the Flight 1 title at the Davidson Invitational and fell in the final of the UVa Invite. They played at the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships in Los Angeles in October.

- Wilkins went 10-5 in singles action this fall, including a 2-2 mark against ranked opponents. Ranked No. 17 in the Carolinas region, Wilkins won the Flight 1 title at the Davidson Fall Invitational and was third at the Kitty Harrison Invitational in Chapel Hill, N.C.

- Freshman Stephanie Falcon had an impressive debut in the fall, going 11-2 in singles play. She won the Flight 7 title at the Davidson Invite in her first collegiate action. Classmate Kayla Gammie was 6-2 in the fall and won the Flight 8 title at the same event.

- In doubles play, Alex Whitehead and Dilara Yurtkuran were 6-1 together in the fall, while Falcon and Devon Sutherland went 6-3. Falcon and Sutherland advanced to the B Doubles final at the UVa Invite and the C Doubles final of the Wake Forest Invitational.

- As a team, the Spartans went 15-7 overall last year with a 9-1 Southern Conference mark to finish second in the league.

- UNCG's roster boasts four student-athletes who have earned All-Southern Conference honors during their careers. Wilkins, Dougherty, Whitehead and Annette Rios have all claimed the honor in singles, while Wilkins, Dougherty and Whitehead have also earned the distinction in doubles.

- Unranked Indiana is opening the dual portion of its spring slate Sunday at No. 3 Duke with a noon match before taking on the Spartans later in the day.

- The Hoosiers hosted the IU Winter Invitational last weekend, with Evgeniya Vertesheva and Katie Klyczek both going 3-0 at the tournament to win their respective draws.

- Indiana's roster features 2011 All-American Leslie Hureau as well as Vertesheva, an All-Big Ten selection last season. Freshman Carolyn Chupa is ranked 79^th in the first ITA rankings of the spring.

- IU went 13-11 as a team last year with a 3-7 Big Ten mark. The Hoosiers faced eight teams ranked in the top 60, going 1-7 against those squads with a win over then-No. 34 DePaul.

- The last time UNCG and Indiana met was on Feb. 23, 2008, when the 27^th-ranked Hoosiers took a 5-2 win in Winston-Salem, N.C. UNCG's Alejandra Guerra and Arielle VonStrolley took wins at Nos. 1 and 2 singles, respectively.

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