April 4, 2012

UNCG runs winning streak to eight with 5-2 win at Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Using a makeshift lineup, UNCG's women's tennis team ran its winning streak to eight matches with a 5-2 win over Charlotte on Wednesday at the 49ers' Halton-Wagner Tennis Complex.

Playing without No. 1 player Niltooli Wilkins, the two-time reigning Southern Conference Player of the Month, the Spartans (13-4, 7-0 SoCon) swept through doubles play and picked up four singles wins.

Kayla Gammie and Annette Rios, UNCG's usual No. 3 doubles squad, played up a flight and still cruised to an 8-1 win over the 49ers' Dominica Nemec and Natsuko Takayanagi at No. 2 to run their winning streak to 11 straight matches. Alex Whitehead and Devon Sutherland, the Spartans' usual No. 2, earned an 8-6 win over Lisa Grosselius and Anna Ekelund at No. 1 to clinch the point. The win was that duo's ninth in a row.

Lucy Dougherty and Stephanie Falcon grabbed an 8-6 win over Andrea Rivera and Emmanuelle Briant at No. 3 to complete the sweep.

In singles action, Takayanagi evened the score when UNCG's Dilara Yurtkuran retired after dropping her first set, 6-2. Whitehead, a junior playing at No. 1 for the first time since her freshman season, earned a straight-sets win over Rivera, taking a 6-2, 6-1 victory to put the Spartans back on top.

Sutherland followed with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Briant at No. 5, but Grosselius kept Charlotte in it with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Annette Rios at No. 3. Gammie, playing just her second dual singles contest of the season, clinched the match with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Nemec at No. 6.

Falcon rounded out the scoring with her 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 1-0 (10-6) win over Ekelund at No. 4.

Charlotte (13-4), which was also playing without its top player, Alexandra Zinn, lost its second straight at home after opening 9-0 there.

First-place UNCG gets back into league play Saturday when it hosts fellow SoCon unbeaten College of Charleston (17-4, 6-0) at the UNCG Tennis Courts at noon.

AGATE
UNCG 5, Charlotte 2

Singles competition
1. Alex Whitehead (UNCG) def. Andrea Rivera (CHA) 6-2, 6-1
2. Natsuko Takayanagi (CHA) def. Dilara Yurtkuran (UNCG) 6-2, retired
3. Lisa Grosselius (CHA) def. Annette Rios (UNCG) 6-3, 6-3
4. Stephanie Falcon (UNCG) def. Anna Ekelund (CHA) 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 1-0 (10-6)
5. Devon Sutherland (UNCG) def. Emmanuelle Briant (CHA) 6-4, 6-0
6. Kayla Gammie (UNCG) def. Dominica Nemec (CHA) 6-2, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. Alex Whitehead/Devon Sutherland (UNCG) def. Lisa Grosselius/Anna Ekelund (CHA) 8-6
2. Kayla Gammie/Annette Rios (UNCG) def. Dominica Nemec/Natsuko Takayanagi (CHA) 8-1
3. Lucy Dougherty/Stephanie Falcon (UNCG) def. Andrea Rivera/Emmanuelle Briant (CHA) 8-6

Match Notes:
UNCG 13-4
Charlotte 13-4
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (2,1,5,3,6,4)

- UNCG -