Spartan doubles duo ranked nationally, Wilkins ranked in region

Niltooli Wilkins

SKILLMAN, N.J. – UNCG's Lucy Dougherty and Niltooli Wilkins check in at No. 40 nationally in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association doubles rankings, the ITA announced Tuesday. Wilkins is also ranked regionally in singles play.

The duo went 9-5 in the fall, including a 1-2 mark against top-10 opponents. Dougherty and Wilkins, both redshirt juniors, downed then-No. 9 Lindsey Hardenbergh and Erin Vierra of Virginia at the Cavaliers' fall tournament on Sept. 16 before falling to then-No. 7 Kathryn Talbert and Kayla Duncan of Wake Forest in the flight final two days later.

Dougherty and Wilkins faced Hardenbergh and Vierra again on Nov. 4 at the Kitty Harrison Invitational in Chapel Hill, N.C., with the Cavalier duo avenging their early season loss.

Dougherty and Wilkins appeared in the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships in Los Angeles on Oct. 1. They won the Flight 1 title at the Davidson Fall Invitational.

Dougherty, a two-time first-team All-Southern Conference selection in doubles, and Wilkins, who earned first-team honors for the first time last season after transferring in from Minnesota, are ninth in the Carolina Region rankings, which also came out Tuesday.

"They've worked hard for this," UNCG coach Jeff Trivette said. "It started last season, really, when they went 20-3 together, and it's carried over into this fall. They deserve it. It's a great honor for them to be nationally ranked."

In singles action, Wilkins is rated No. 17 in the Carolina Region. She went 10-5 in singles in the fall with a pair of wins over ranked opponents. The Burnsville, Minn., native beat NC State's Tatiana Illova twice in the fall, besting the 114th-ranked player at the UVa Fall Invitational and the Kitty Harrison Invitational.

Wilkins faced two more ranked foes, falling to No. 125 Marlen Mesgarzadeh of William & Mary at the UVa Invite and dropping a three-set match to No. 83 Nelly Ciolkowski of Clemson at the USTA/ITA Regional Championships in Chapel Hill.

A first-team All-SoCon pick in singles last season, Wilkins was UNCG's lone singles representative at the Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships. She won the Flight 1 title at the Davidson Fall Invitational and was third at the Kitty Harrison Invite.

UNCG begins spring competition on Jan. 18 at North Carolina.

For complete rankings, click here.

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