March 17, 2012

UNCG to open league play at Samford, Chattanooga this weekend

UNCG (5-4, 0-0 SoCon) at Samford (9-2, 1-1 SoCon), March 17, 3 p.m., Birmingham, Ala.
UNCG at Chattanooga (9-2, 1-1 SoCon), March 18, 1 p.m., Chattanooga, Tenn.

Storylines

- UNCG's women's tennis team opens Southern Conference play this weekend when it takes on Samford on Saturday and Chattanooga on Sunday in a pair of road matches.

- The Spartans have won five of their last seven matches but are coming off a 4-3 loss at Charleston Southern on March 10. UNCG took the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3 and took wins at Nos. 1 and 2 singles.

- UNCG is one of the last teams to get into the SoCon play, while some will have played as many as four league matches by Saturday.

- Redshirt junior Niltooli Wilkins was named the SoCon Player of the Month for February. She went 8-0 in the month, going 4-0 in both singles and doubles.

- Wilkins paces UNCG with an 18-6 singles record and is 8-1 in dual play, all at No. 1. She has won eight straight since opening the dual campaign with a 7-5, 7-5 loss to No. 44 Zoe De Bruycker of North Carolina on Jan. 18.

- Stephanie Falcon, a freshman, is second on the squad with a 16-6 record (5-4 dual), while Devon Sutherland is 10-7 overall and 3-1 in dual play.

- In doubles play, Wilkins and Dougherty, who were ranked 40^th nationally in doubles earlier in the season, are 15-7 so far on the season with a 6-2 dual mark. Falcon and Sutherland are 7-4 together, while Kayla Gammie and Annette Rios are 7-3 with a 5-1 dual mark.

- The Spartans are in the midst of a seven-match road swing, which started at Longwood on March 1. After this weekend, UNCG will face Davidson on March 22 and Western Carolina two days later before finally returning home on March 25 to host Georgia Southern.

- Samford (9-2, 1-1 SoCon) opened SoCon play last week with a 6-1 loss to College of Charleston on March 8 and a 5-2 win over Georgia Southern two days later. The Bulldogs opened the spring season 8-0 before dropping consecutive matches to No. 50 Georgia State and CofC.

- The Bulldogs are 9-1 at the Samford Tennis Center on the year, with their lone road match coming at Georgia State.

- Against Georgia Southern on March 10, Samford won at Nos. 1 and 3 doubles to claim the early point then got singles wins at Nos. 2-5.

- Madelie Janse Van Rensburg paces Samford with a 9-2 singles record in dual play, including a 9-1 mark at No. 2. Kristen Lewis is 7-4 at No. 1 but is 0-2 so far in SoCon action. Stephanie N'tcha is also 7-4 with a 7-3 record at No. 3.

- Lewis and Lindsey Mallory are 10-1 together in doubles play, all at No. 1. Rensburg and Rebecca Kirven are 6-4 at No. 2 and N'tcha and Adri Lochner are 6-2 at No. 3.

- Lewis was the SoCon's Player of the Week on Feb. 28.

- In the last meeting between the teams, UNCG took a 4-3 win over the 74^th-ranked Bulldogs in Greensboro on Feb. 27, 2011. The Spartans claimed the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 2 and grabbed singles wins at Nos. 1, 3 and 5.

- The Lady Mocs are off to their best start since 1991, opening 9-2 with losses to Middle Tennessee and College of Charleston. Chattanooga lifted the lid on SoCon play last weekend with the 7-0 loss to CofC on March 9 and a 6-1 win over Georgia Southern two days later.

- Chattanooga swept through doubles and won everywhere in singles but at No. 4 in the win over GSU.

- So far this season, Jenna Nurik is a team-best 17-5 in singles with a 9-2 dual mark, all at No. 1. Shaina Singh is second on the squad with a 14-7 record (8-2 dual) and is 7-2 at No. 5. Alexa Flynn is 13-5 with a 7-3 dual mark between Nos. 2-3.

- Nurik and Kaylene Chadwell are a team-best 11-1 in doubles with a 4-0 dual mark, all at No. 2. Chadwell and Flynn are 6-2 together, including a 5-1 mark at No. 1. Emily Hangstefer and Brianna Wishing are 7-3 overall with a 4-2 record at No. 3.

- Chadwell, a freshman, was the SoCon's Player of the Week on March 7.

- UNCG rolled to a 7-0 win over Chattanooga in last season's meeting, on Feb. 26, 2011. The Lady Mocs' lone win on the afternoon came at No. 1 doubles.

- UNCG -