Women's Tennis Hosts Chattanooga and Samford

2012 SoCon Player of the Year Niltooli Wilkins

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG women's tennis program continues SoCon play when it hosts Chattanooga Saturday, March 9 and Samford, Sunday, March 10 at the UNCG tennis courts. Play will begin at 12 p.m. both days. 

"We are looking forward to starting our conference schedule," said head coach Jeff Trivette. "We have two tough matches in UTC and Samford this weekend. I know that we will have to fight for every point. It will be a battle. Hopefully, we will out work our opponents and come out on top." 

The Spartans hold a 4-4 record after fighting to win 4-3 against Old Dominion last Saturday, and are 1-0 in the SoCon due to their 7-0 victory over Western Carolina, February 24. 

Seniors Niltooli Wilkins (Burnsville, Minn. / Homeschooled) and Alex Whitehead (Victoria, Australia / Star of the Sea College) won their doubles match against ODU's Diana Ivanova and Nikol Hristova, 8-6.  

Senior Annette Rios (Santa Ana, El Salvador / Liceo Latinoamericano) and sophomore Kayla Gammie (Port St. Lucie, Fla. / Broward Virtual School) dropped their match to Juliana Pires and Melissa Esnal Olguin, 8-4. 

Junior Dilara Yurtkuran (Istanbul, Turkey / Gunes Koleji) and sophomore Stephanie Falcon (Marietta, Ga. / Walton) won 8-4 against Nika Khmolovska and Ivana Vukovic.  

In singles play Wilkins took down Ivanova, 6-3, 7-5, while Yurtkuran fell 6-1, 6-3 to Hristova.  

Whitehead lost her match to Vukovic, 7-5, 6-4. Rios won in an easy two sets against Pires, 6-3, 6-2.  

Falcon picked up a 6-4, 6-1 win against Esnal Oguin, while Gammie fell to Khmolovska, 8-4. 

Chattanooga is off to a 9-1 start for the second year in a row.  Before last season, the Mocs did not have nine wins in their first ten matches since the 1991 campaign.  UTC is 1-1 in SoCon action after splitting matches with Appalachian State (L, 2-4) and Western Carolina (W, 7-0) last weekend. 

Samford (6-5, 1-1 SoCon) holds a 1-1 conference record after defeating Western Carolina, 7-0, and coming up short against Appalachian State, 4-3, at home in its opening SoCon weekend of the season. 

- UNCG -