Women's Tennis Heads to Elon

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG women's tennis program has canceled its nonconference match against North Carolina A&T due to weather but will face fellow Southern Conference member No. 59 Elon Thursday, March 14. Play will begin at 3 p.m. in Elon, N.C. 

"Thursday will be a very hectic day," said head coach Jeff Trivette. "We have our next conference match at Elon in the afternoon. We will need everybody's help to be successful."

The Blue and Gold hold a 5-4 record and are 3-0 in SoCon competition. The Spartans are coming off of a 4-3 victory over Samford Sunday, March 10. 

Sophomore Stephanie Falcon (Marietta, Ga. / Walton) stepped up when UNCG and Samford were tied 3-3 to clinch the match. Falcon won 7-5, 6-4 against Emily Mallory. 

UNCG swept in doubles earning the match point. 

Seniors Niltooli Wilkins (Burnsville, Minn. / Homeschooled) and Alex Whitehead (Victoria, Australia / Star of the Sea College) won in a tiebreaker against Kristin Lewis and Stephanie N'tcha, 9-8 (7-1). 

Senior Annette Rios (Santa Ana, El Salvador / Liceo Latinoamericano) and sophomore Kayla Gammie (Port St. Lucie, Fla. / Broward Virtual School) picked up an 8-5 win over Carita Moolman and Adri Lochner. 

Falcon and junior Dilara Yurtkuran (Istanbul, Turkey / Gunes Koleji) teamed up to beat Mallory and Jessica Northcutt, 8-5. 

Freshman Soumeya Anane (Coventry, Great Britain / Tile Hill Wood School) earned the first singles win at No. 6 against AnnMarie Lyon, 6-1, 6-3. Whitehead followed suit when she defeated Northcutt, 6-4, 6-3 at No.2. 

At No. 3, Rios dropped a tough match against N'tcha, 6-3, 7-5, while Gammie fell at No. 5 to Mallory, 7-5, 6-4. 

Wilkins lost at No. 1 to Lewis in three sets, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4, before Falcon clinched the match for the Spartans.

Elon (No. 59) saw its 11-match winning streak come to an end Sunday, with a 4-3 setback to Chattanooga in Southern Conference action at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. Elon, ranked 59th in the nation, dropped to 11-2 and 1-1 in the SoCon.

- UNCG -