Spartans remain perfect in SoCon play with 7-0 win over Wofford

Stephanie Falcon

GREENSBORO, N.C. – UNCG's women's tennis team remained perfect in Southern Conference play, taking a 7-0 win over Wofford on Saturday at the UNCG Tennis Courts.

The start of the match was delayed an hour and a half because of overnight rains that soaked the courts, but once the action got under way, UNCG (11-4, 6-0 SoCon) breezed through doubles play to claim an early 1-0 lead.

UNCG's Kayla Gammie and Annette Rios got the ball rolling with an 8-1 win over Emily Przystawski and Lucy Schermerhorn at No. 3, and Lucy Dougherty and Niltooli Wilkins clinched the point by an identical score over Sarah Evans and Othilia Lindqvist at No. 1. Devon Sutherland and Alex Whitehead rounded out the sweep with an 8-3 win over Julia Paulson and Samantha Sullivan at No. 2.

In singles play, Spartan freshman Stephanie Falcon quickly dispatched Przystawski at No. 5, 6-1, 6-0. Dougherty followed suit with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Lindqvist at No. 4, and Whitehead clinched the match with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Paulson at No. 2. Wilkins then wrapped up her 6-3, 6-1 win over Evans at No. 1.

At No. 4, Rios won her first set over Wofford's Audrey Coventry 6-2 before dropping the second, 4-6. Rios won the super tiebreaker by a 10-4 count to claim the win.

Sutherland mounted an impressive rally at No. 6 to complete the sweep, regrouping from a first-set loss for the 4-6, 7-6 (7-0), 1-0 (10-2) win over Sullivan. Sutherland won 17 of the final 19 points in the two tiebreakers for the win.

Wofford fell to 4-11 overall and 0-5 in league play. The Spartans moved a half-game ahead of idle College of Charleston (5-0 in the SoCon), while Furman beat Elon 4-3 on Saturday to run its record to 6-0 in the league and keep pace with UNCG at the top of the SoCon standings.

UNCG returns to action Sunday at noon when it hosts the Paladins in a first-place showdown at the UNCG Tennis Courts. The Spartan men will also be in action there at noon, hosting SoCon-leader College of Charleston.

AGATE
UNCG 7, Wofford 0

Singles competition
1. Niltooli Wilkins (UNCG) def. Sarah Evans (WOF) 6-3, 6-1
2. Alex Whitehead (UNCG) def. Julia Paulson (WOF) 6-4, 6-2
3. Annette Rios (UNCG) def. Audrey Coventry (WOF) 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (10-4)
4. Lucy Dougherty (UNCG) def. Othilia Lindqvist (WOF) 6-1, 6-1
5. Stephanie Falcon (UNCG) def. Emily Przystawski (WOF) 6-1, 6-0
6. Devon Sutherland (UNCG) def. Samantha Sullivan (WOF) 4-6, 7-6 (7-0), 1-0 (10-2)

Doubles competition
1. Lucy Dougherty/Niltooli Wilkins (UNCG) def. Sarah Evans/Othilia Lindqvist (WOF) 8-1
2. Devon Sutherland/Alex Whitehead (UNCG) def. Julia Paulson/Samantha Sullivan (WOF) 8-3
3. Kayla Gammie/Annette Rios (UNCG) def. Emily Przystawski/Lucy Schermerhorn (WOF) 8-1

Match Notes:
Wofford 4-11, 0-5 SoCon
UNCG 11-4, 6-0 SoCon
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (5,4,2,1,3,6)

- UNCG -