UNCG falls in season-opener at Virginia Tech

BLACKSBURG, Va. – Niltooli Wilkins provided the lone point for UNCG at No. 1 singles as the Spartans dropped their season-opening match to Virginia Tech, 6-1, on Sunday afternoon at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center.

The Spartans (0-1) fell behind early as they narrowly dropped the doubles point. Stephanie MacFarlane and Alex Whitehead took the first match as they won at No. 2 doubles, 8-3. The next match to finish was at No. 1 doubles as Wilkins and Lucy Dougherty fell to the Hokies' Yasmin Hamza and Holly Johnson, 8-3, to knot things at one.

All eyes were then on the No. 3 doubles match between UNCG's Annette Rios and Dilara Yurtkuran and Katie Blow and Tea Ivanovic from Virginia Tech. UNCG broke the Hokie serve to tie the match at 5 in the match, but Virginia Tech broke right back to go ahead, 6-5. The teams would stay on serve the rest of the way as the duo of Blow and Ivanovic took the match, 8-6, to claim the doubles point for the Hokies.

The Hokies, who moved to 2-0 this season after defeating Richmond 6-1 earlier in the day, received strong play from their singles players. Ivanovic put the Hokies ahead 2-0 in the match after scoring a 6-1, 6-1 win over Yurtkuran at No. 4 singles.

Hamza made it 3-0 in favor of the home side as she finished right after Ivanovic with a 6-2, 6-1 victory at No. 2 singles against Whitehead. Virginia Tech clinched the match at No. 3 singles as MacFarlane dropped her match, 6-0, 6-1, to Johnson.

The next match to wrap up was at No. 6 singles where Mikayla Rogers fell to Isel Martinex-Marcos, 6-2, 6-1. The Hokies were able to push their lead to 6-0 as Emily Lauten scored a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Dougherty.

The bright spot for the Spartans on Sunday was at No. 1 singles as Wilkins defeated Blakely. The first set was very tight as the two players went back and forth, but Wilkins was able to win the first set in the tiebreaker, 7-6 (7-5). She would go on to take the second set, 6-2, to win the lone singles match for UNCG.

UNCG will return home for its home opener on Saturday as the Spartans host Coastal Carolina at 1 p.m. at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center.

AGATE

Virginia Tech 6, UNCG 1
Singles:
1. Niltooli Wilkins (UNCG) def. Martha Blakely (VT), 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
2. Yasmin Hamza (VT) def. Alex Whitehead (UNCG), 6-2, 6-1
3. Holly Johnson (VT) def. Stephanie MacFarlane (UNCG), 6-0, 6-1
4. Tea Ivanovic (VT) def. Dilara Yurtkuran (UNCG), 6-1, 6-1
5. Emily Lauten (VT) def. Lucy Dougherty (UNCG), 6-2, 6-4
6. Isel Martinez-Marcos (VT) def. Mikayla Rogers (UNCG), 6-2, 6-1

Doubles:
1. Hamza/Johnson (VT) def. Wilkins/Dougherty (UNCG), 8-3
2. MacFarlane/Whitehead (UNCG) def. Betts/Lauten (VT), 8-3
3. Blow/Ivanovic (VT) def. Yurtkuran/Rios (UNCG), 8-6

Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3 ) Singles (4,2,3*,6,5,1)
*Clinched the match

- UNCG -