UNCG netters host Gardner-Webb, UNCA at Piedmont Indoor this weekend

Thomas Mozur

UNCG vs. Gardner-Webb, Feb. 4, Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center, 4 p.m.
UNCG vs. UNC Asheville, Feb. 5, Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center, 4 p.m.

Storylines

- UNCG's men's tennis team will open the home portion of its schedule this weekend when it hosts Gardner-Webb on Saturday and UNC Asheville on Sunday. Both matches will be at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center and both are at 4 p.m. Admission is free.

- The Spartans enter the weekend with an 0-2 record on the season after dropping matches to Tennessee Tech and No. 46 Memphis in Memphis, Tenn., last weekend. UNCG fell 4-3 to Tennessee Tech on Jan. 28 and 6-1 to Memphis the following day.

- Against Tennessee Tech, UNCG won the doubles point on the strength of wins by Orcun Seyrek and Ahmet Sarioglu at No. 1 and Randy Phillips and Chanon Varapongsittikul at No. 2. The Golden Eagles had the run of it in singles play, however, with Sarioglu and Phillips picking up the Spartans' lone wins, at Nos. 2 and 4, respectively.

- The next day against the Tigers, Varapongsittikul pulled out the win in a super tiebreaker at No. 3 singles for UNCG's only victory on the day.

- Seyrek enters the spring season ranked 11^th in singles in the Carolinas Region by the ITA. A three-time All-Southern Conference selection, Seyrek was 20-11 in singles last year, marking his third straight season with 20+ singles wins.

- Including this season's fall results, Sarioglu leads the team in singles wins with a 7-4 mark on the young season. Phillips is second on the squad in wins and owns a 5-6 record. In doubles play, Phillips and Varapongsittikul are 5-2 together, including a 1-1 dual record at No. 2. Sarioglu and Seyrek are 3-3 together.

- Gardner-Webb is 1-2 on the season. The Runnin' Bulldogs opened the season with a 7-0 loss at No. 59 NC State on Jan. 14 and followed that up with a 5-2 loss to USC Upstate on Jan. 26. GWU picked up its first win of the season at Davidson on Jan. 28, by a 5-2 score.

- In the win over the Wildcats, the Runnin' Bulldogs nabbed five singles wins to overcome an early 1-0 deficit after dropping the doubles point. Korhan Ates won at No. 1, Adam Knutsson-Sundlad won at No. 2, Roman Piftor won at No. 4, Joao Poli won at No. 5 and Brendan Dempsey rounded things out with a win at No. 6.

- Ates and Knutsson-Sundlad were the Big South Conference flight champions at No. 3 doubles last season.

- GWU is a young squad, as its nine-member team boasts five freshmen and one sophomore. There are three juniors and no seniors on the roster.

- Gardner-Webb participated in the UNCG Fall Invitational in September with the Spartans prevailing in every match pitting UNCG against GWU. In singles play, Seyrek defeated Knutsson-Sundlad, Sarioglu topped Ates and Knutsson-Sundlad, and Phillips beat Dempsey. In doubles play, Sarioglu and Seyrek downed Ernest Alberch and Stephen Martin.

- UNCG was slated to face Gardner-Webb in Boiling Springs, N.C., last season, but the match was canceled due to the threat of inclement weather and was not rescheduled. The teams last met in a dual match on Feb. 6, 2010, with UNCG taking a 5-2 win at Starmount Forest Country Club. The Spartans swept doubles play and picked up singles wins by Arsel Kumdereli, Jacob Wright, Yaroslav Litus and Timion Meijs. Evgeny Slesarav (No. 1) and Piftor (No. 5) grabbed wins for GWU.

- UNC Asheville (0-2) also opened its season with a 7-0 loss at No. 59 NC State on Jan. 14 and followed that up with a 4-3 loss at Appalachian State on Jan. 29. The Bulldogs host Mars Hill on Saturday.

- In its match against App State, UNCA got wins from Matt Waissen and Jonas Brobeck at No. 1 and Thomas Rees and Adrien Langeard at No. 2 to take the doubles point and an early 1-0 lead. The Mountaineers won four singles matches to take the win, however, with Langeard and Brobeck picking up the Bulldogs' only wins, at Nos. 1 and 3, respectively.

- Langeard and Waissen earned All-Big South honors in singles last season.

- Junior Ryan Matthews is a Greensboro, N.C., native who was the Metro 4A Player of the Year as a senior at Northwest Guilford High School.

- UNCA was also in the UNCG Fall Invitational. In head-to-head matches between UNCG and UNCA, Sarioglu beat Waissen and Jimmy Roueche topped Will Goldberg, while UNCA's John Schubel beat Phillips and Rees topped Will Kent.

- UNCG took a 4-3 win over UNCA in Asheville, N.C., on Feb. 5 of last season. After the Bulldogs swept through doubles play, Seyrek, Varapongsittikul, Sarioglu and Zach Reece took wins in singles play to rally the Spartans to the win. Langeard and Waissen grabbed wins at Nos. 2 and 3 singles, respectively, for the Bulldogs.

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