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UNCG wins third straight, downs Gardner-Webb, 5-2
GREENSBORO, N.C. – UNCG's women's tennis team picked up a 5-2 win over visiting Gardner-Webb at the UNCG Tennis Courts on Tuesday despite having four players playing up a flight in singles.
UNCG improved to 3-2 on the young season while Gardner-Webb fell to 3-3.
The Spartans started off by winning the doubles point. Devon Sutherland and Kayla Gammie earned an 8-2 win over Erica White and Ronia Hutterli at No. 3, but the Runnin' Bulldogs countered with Yasmin Doost and Alice Hopkins topping Alex Whitehead and Dilara Yurtkuran at No. 2, 8-5.
With the doubles point hanging in the balance, Lucy Dougherty and Niltooli Wilkins rallied from a 4-2 deficit at No. 1 to take an 8-5 win over Jenny Lunde and Ioana Oprea and give the Spartans the early 1-0 lead.
A lingering foot injury forced Whitehead, UNCG's usual No. 3, out of singles play, and Dougherty, Annette Rios, Stephanie Falcon and Sutherland all played a flight higher than scheduled thanks to the last-minute lineup change. Rios, Falcon and Sutherland played at their new flights for the second time each this season, while Dougherty, a redshirt junior, played above No. 4 for just the second time in her career and first since 2010.
Falcon had no trouble with the move, making quick work of Hutterli at No. 5, 6-1, 6-0. Wilkins downed White 6-2, 6-1 at No. 1 to make it 3-0 in UNCG's favor, and Sutherland, who wasn't even slated to play in singles, clinched the match with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Doost at No. 6.
The remaining three matches were all decided in super tiebreakers. Dougherty grabbed a 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-7) win over Oprea at No. 3, and Hopkins put GWU on the board with a hotly contested 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 1-0 (10-6) win over Yurtkuran at No. 2. Rios bounced back from a first-set loss to win the second, but Lunde won the super for the 6-4, 5-7, 1-0 (10-7) victory at No. 4.
UNCG returns to action when it hosts Richmond on Saturday at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center at 10 a.m.
AGATE
UNCG 5, Gardner-Webb 2
Singles competition
1. Niltooli Wilkins (UNCG) def. Erica White (GWU) 6-2, 6-1
2. Alice Hopkins (GWU) def. Dilara Yurtkuran (UNCG) 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 1-0 (10-6)
3. Lucy Dougherty (UNCG) def. Ioana Oprea (GWU) 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-7)
4. Jenny Lunde (GWU) def. Annette Rios (UNCG) 6-4, 5-7, 1-0 (10-7)
5. Stephanie Falcon (UNCG) def. Ronia Hutterli (GWU) 6-1, 6-0
6. Devon Sutherland (UNCG) def. Yasmin Doost (GWU) 6-4, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. Lucy Dougherty/Niltooli Wilkins (UNCG) def. Jenny Lunde/Ioana Oprea (GWU) 8-5
2. Yasmin Doost/Alice Hopkins (GWU) def. Alex Whitehead/Dilara Yurtkuran (UNCG) 8-5
3. Devon Sutherland/Kayla Gammie (UNCG) def. Ronia Hutterli/Erica White (GWU) 8-2
Match Notes:
Gardner-Webb 3-3
UNCG 3-2
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (5,1,6,3,2,4)
- UNCG -
