March 9, 2011

UNCG (6-3, 1-0 SoCon) at Samford (7-2, 0-0 SoCon), March 10, 2 p.m., Samford Tennis Center

Storylines

• UNCG will try to win its second straight Southern Conference match and third straight overall when it takes on Samford in Birmingham, Ala., on Thursday.

• The Spartans downed Longwood on Tuesday, 5-2. UNCG won the doubles point for the second straight match after winning it just once in its first seven, then picked up four singles wins.

• UNCG opened SoCon play with a 6-1 win over Wofford on Saturday. The win was the Spartans' third straight in SoCon-openers.

• Coach Thomas Mozur has mixed up the doubles lineup with outstanding success in the last two contests. After the Spartans won just five doubles matches through the first seven matches, UNCG swept doubles against Wofford on Saturday and won twice against Longwood.

• Orcun Seyrek and Timion Meijs are now paired at No. 1, with Seyrek staying put and Meijs moving up from No. 2. Jacob Wright and Yaroslav Litus remained paired together but moved up to No. 2 from No. 3, while freshmen Chanon Varapongsittikul and Ahmet Sarioglu are now paired at No. 3. Litus and Wright have won four straight matches.

• Seyrek was named the SoCon Player of the Week for the third time in his career on Wednesday for his efforts against Wofford. Seyrek picked up a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 1 singles and an 8-4 win at No. 1 doubles.

• Against Longwood on Tuesday, Seyrek, Litus, Varapongsittikul and Zach Reece picked up singles wins.

• UNCG has gotten impressive performances at the bottom of the singles lineup this season, as the Spartans have yet to drop a match at No. 6 (9-0) and are 6-3 at No. 5.

• Youth has served the Spartans well so far this season. Three freshmen are regular contributors in singles play, and the three lead the squad in dual wins. Reece, a redshirt freshman, is 6-0 on the season in dual play and a team-best 14-4 overall on the year. Sarioglu is off to a 7-2 dual start and shares the team lead with 14 overall wins (14-6). Varapongsittikul is 6-3 in dual play and 13-7 overall on the season.

• Seyrek, UNCG's No. 1 singles player, is 5-4 in duals but 13-6 overall. With Saturday's singles win, Litus became the fifth Spartan to reach double figures in overall wins this season. He is now 5-4 in duals and 11-7 overall.

• UNCG has beaten the Bulldogs in both of their seasons in the league, taking 5-2 wins in each of the last two years.

• Samford is off to a 7-2 start to the season, with eight of those matches coming at home. The Bulldogs are 7-1 at home but lost their last match, 5-2 to Columbus State on Saturday. Samford's lone wins came from Nos. 1 and 4 singles, with Carson Kadi and Oliver Reynolds earning wins, respectively.

• Samford's other loss came at Georgia State on Feb. 6. Six of the Bulldogs' seven wins have come via 7-0 scores. Samford also owns a 4-3 win over UAB on Friday.

• Carl Abalos, Fernando Costa, Zav Dunkle, Alexander Sajonz, Kadi and Reynolds are all 6-2 in dual singles play on the season.

• In doubles play, Abalos and Reynolds are 7-1 at No. 1, as is the pairing of Dunkle and Sajonz at No. 2.

- UNCG -