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UNCG hosts Coastal Carolina in home-opener on Saturday
Coastal Carolina (0-0) at UNCG (0-1), Feb. 5, 1: p.m., Greensboro, N.C., Piedmont Indoor Tennis Courts
Storylines:
- After opening its season last weekend at Virginia Tech, UNCG comes home to host Coastal Carolina for its home-opener on Saturday at 1 p.m. The match will be held indoors at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Courts instead of the on-campus UNCG Tennis Courts.
- On Sunday, the Spartans traveled up to Blacksburg, Va. to face ACC foe Virginia Tech for their first match of the spring season. The teams fought hard for the doubles point to start the afternoon as it all came down to No. 3 doubles. Virginia Tech was able to get a break with that match tied at six to go on and win the match, 8-6, to give the Hokies the point. In singles, Niltooli Wilkins, competing at No. 1 singles, was the lone winner for the Spartans as she scored a 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 victory.
- Saturday will also be the season-opener for Costal Carolina, although that wasn't originally the plan. The Chanticleers were scheduled to host Campbell on Thursday, but had to postpone their match due to inclement weather.
- The Chanticleers are coming off an impressive 2009-10 season that saw them finish 19-6 overall and 5-2 in the Big South. Coastal Carolina reached the semifinals of the Big South Tournament before falling to Winthrop, 4-3. This season, the Chanticleers were picked to finish second in the Big South in the league's annual preseason poll.
- Last season, the Spartans went 10-11 during the spring season. UNCG also had a 4-6 mark in Southern Conference matches to finish in seventh place as a team.
- At the conclusion of the season, the Spartans earned plenty of awards from the Southern Conference. Alex Whitehead was named second-team All-SoCon at the No. 1 singles position, while Annette Rios claimed second-team honors at No. 5 singles. Whitehead also teamed up with Mikayla Rogers to earn second-team All-SoCon at No. 3 doubles.
- Whitehead and Rios weren't done collecting postseason hardware as the duo were both named to the Southern Conference All-Freshman Team after the year was over.
- The Spartans received a boost during the fall portion of their schedule from Niltooli Wilkins, a sophomore transfer from Minnesota. Wilkins went 11-5 during the fall in singles competition, including victories in her first six matches as a Spartan.
- Perhaps the greatest win for UNCG in the fall was Wilkins' defeat over Hilary Bartlett from Pinceton, who was ranked 49th in the nation at the time, 2-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-7), at the Kitty Harrison Invitational.
- UNCG found success earlier this season at the Air Force Invitational at the beginning of October. Whitehead teamed up with Stephanie Macfarlane to earn runner-up honors in doubles, while Wilkins claimed runner-up honors in singles at the event.
- The Spartans also had tremendous success as they hosted the Spartans Doubles Challenge. UNCG went 16-4 overall at the event with Wilkins and Whitehead winning the Navy group, while Devon Sutherland and Dilara Yurtkuran claimed top honors in the Gold group.
- At the UVA Fall Invitational back in September Whitehead and Macfarlane were able to come home with third place honors in the doubles bracket.
- UNCG -
