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Spartans finally return home to host Wofford, Furman
UNCG (10-4, 5-0 SoCon) vs. Wofford (4-10, 0-4 SoCon), March 31, 12 p.m., UNCG Tennis Courts
UNCG vs. Furman (10-7, 5-0, SoCon), April 1, 12 p.m., UNCG Tennis Courts
Storylines
- First-place UNCG returns to the UNCG Tennis Courts for the first time in more than a month this weekend when it hosts a pair of Southern Conference foes. The Spartans welcome Wofford on Saturday and fellow league-leader Furman on Sunday, with both matches set for noon starts.
- UNCG's men's and women's tennis teams will both be in action the UNCG Tennis Courts this weekend, playing noon matches concurrently on both days. The Spartan men will host Appalachian State and College of Charleston on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
- On the women's side, UNCG, Furman and College of Charleston enter the weekend tied atop the SoCon standings at 5-0 in league play. This weekend's matches start a crucial stretch for the Spartans, who host CofC next weekend.
- The Spartans have won five straight, all in league play. Last time out, UNCG dropped Appalachian State in Boone, N.C., 6-1 on Wednesday. UNCG swept doubles play and won at the top five singles flights.
- Redshirt junior Niltooli Wilkins was named the SoCon Player of the Week on Tuesday. She went 4-0 last week, winning in singles and doubles in wins over Davidson and GSU. Wilkins clinched each match in singles play and teamed with Lucy Dougherty to clinch the doubles point in both matches.
- Wilkins paces UNCG with a 23-6 singles record and is 13-1 in dual play, all at No. 1. She has won 13 straight since opening the dual campaign with a 7-5, 7-5 loss to No. 44 Zoe De Bruycker of North Carolina on Jan. 18. With 23 wins to her credit and at least eight matches left on UNCG's schedule, Wilkins has a chance to surpass the school record of 29 set by Alejandra Guerra in 2009.
- Freshman Stephanie Falcon is second on the squad with a 20-7 record (9-5 dual), while Annette Rios is 13-11 overall and 9-5 in duals and Devon Sutherland is 11-9 overall and 4-3 in dual play. Dougherty and Alex Whitehead each picked up their 11th wins of the season against ASU, each moving to 11-12 overall.
- In doubles play, Wilkins and Dougherty, who have been ranked as high as 40th nationally this season, are 19-8 with a 10-3 dual mark. Whitehead and Sutherland are 8-1 together at No. 2 with six straight wins, while freshman Kayla Gammie and Rios are 12-3 with a 10-1 dual mark, mostly at No. 3, and have won eight straight.
- UNCG has won the doubles point in 12 straight matches with six sweeps in that span.
- UNCG's match against Georgia Southern at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center on March 25 was UNCG's first in Greensboro in exactly one month. UNCG improved to 5-1 at home this year with a 4-1 mark at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center. The Spartans' lone match at the UNCG Tennis Courts this season came in the form of a 5-2 win over Gardner-Webb on Feb. 21.
- UNCG has yet to win a 4-3 match this season. The Spartans have lost twice by that count but all 10 of their wins have come by 5-2 scores or better.
- Wofford enters Saturday's match with a 4-10 overall mark and an 0-4 SoCon record. After a three-match winning streak early in the season, the Terriers have dropped nine of their last 10 with only a 7-0 win over Presbyterian on March 18 breaking up the losing streak. Since then, Wofford has dropped three straight, all in SoCon play.
- Furman downed Wofford on Wednesday, 6-1, in Spartanburg, S.C. The Terriers dropped the doubles point despite a win from Sarah Evans and Guinn Garcia at No. 1, as Furman's Margaret Boyette and Katherine Oudin picked up a win at No. 2 and Lauren Kline and Kelly Sullivan won at No. 3. In singles play, Wofford's Samantha Sullivan earned the Terriers' lone point with a victory at No. 6. Furman's Kline, Michele Stanford, Oudin, Boyette and Alex Moreno-Kaste picked up victories at Nos. 1-5, respectively.
- Othilia Lindqvist leads Wofford with a 7-6 singles record and is 5-2 at No. 5. Evans is 6-8, all at No. 1. Evans and Garcia are 8-3 together in doubles, all at No. 1, while Sullivan and Julia Paulson are 5-8, mostly at No. 2.
- UNCG has won four straight over the Terriers since a 4-3 setback in 2007. The Spartans topped Wofford 4-3 in Spartanburg on April 3, 2011, sweeping doubles then getting singles wins from Wilkins (No. 1), Dougherty (No. 5) and Mikayla Rogers (No. 6) for the win. The Spartans also entered that match with a 5-0 league record.
- Furman, which faces Elon on Saturday, enters the weekend having won seven straight since consecutive setbacks in California in early March. The Paladins head into play Saturday with a 10-7 overall mark and 5-0 SoCon record, including Wednesday's win at Wofford.
- Boyette leads Furman with a 13-4 singles mark, including a 9-3 record at No. 4. Moreno-Kaste and Oudin are each 10-7 overall. Kline is 7-10 at No. 1. In doubles play, Stanford and Amanda Murray are 7-7 at No. 3 and Kline and Moreno-Kaste are 6-5 at No. 1. Boyette and Sullivan are 4-1 at No. 2.
- UNCG and Furman entered last season's regular-season match with unbeaten league marks, with the Spartans emerging with the 4-3 win on April 2, 2011. UNCG got wins at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles for the crucial doubles point then got wins from Whitehead (No. 2), Dougherty (No. 5) and Rios (No. 6) in singles play. Furman's 71st-ranked Monica Arguello downed Wilkins in three sets at No. 1, handing Wilkins what would prove to be her lone league loss of the season. Arguello would go on to be named the SoCon Player of the Year at the end of the season.
- Furman avenged one of its only two SoCon losses in the postseason, knocking UNCG out of the SoCon tournament in the semifinals, 4-1. The Spartans again got wins at the top two doubles spots to take the early 1-0 lead, but the Paladins countered with wins by Arguello (No. 1), Kline (No. 3), Boyette (No. 4) and Murray (No. 5) to rally for the win.
- UNCG -
