GREENSBORO, N.C. - UNCG women's tennis returns to the Elon Fall Invitational this Friday through Sunday after last year's competition was postponed due to the occurrence of Hurricane Florence. Six of the Spartans' seven players to compete the previous year return for the 2019-20 season, in addition to redshirt freshman Hanna Giddings and recent FGCU transfer Ariana Chan.

Women's doubles will kickoff on Friday at 8:30 a.m., with Erika Barquero and Giddings competing in the Maroon Bracket, while Taya Cross and Brianna Gomez get to work in the Gold Bracket at the same time.

MEET HISTORY

• Gomez and Cross faced off in the final of the Phoenix singles bracket, as freshmen, the last time UNCG competed at the Elon Fall Invitational in 2017, with Gomez taking the match in straight sets

• The Spartans had competed at the previous six Elon Fall Invitationals before missing last year's events, returning to the competition for a seventh time overall

THE SPARTANS

• Entering the 2019 Southern Conference Tournament as a No. 4 seed last spring, UNCG fell in the first round of championship play with a 4-1 loss to No. 5 Samford

• Sophomore Erika Barquero was a part of nine doubles wins in 2019, eight of which came in the Spartans' top pairing

• Returning junior Brianna Gomez recorded a team-high 11 singles match wins in the 2019 spring season, competing primarily as a No. 4 seed

• Sophia Adams and Barquero each tallied 10 singles wins last year, with the pair competing at either the No. 2 or No. 3 seed throughout

THE COMPETITION

• In addition to hosts Elon, the Spartans will compete against athletes from No. 55 Furman, Radford, Mercer and ETSU

• Furman and ETSU were the top-seeded teams in last year's Southern Conference tournament, with the No. 1 Paladins defeating the No. 2 Bucs in the championship final

-- UNCG –