MACON, Ga. – The UNCG women's tennis season came to a close on Thursday, April 17, with a 4-1 setback to Samford in the first round of the Southern Conference Championships, which took place in Macon, Ga., at the John Drew Smith Tennis Center.

The fifth-seeded Bulldogs (12-10) grabbed the early 1-0 lead in the match by virtue of winning the doubles point. The tandem of Grace Jennings / Mary Kathrine Lewis earned the first victory of the day (6-3) in a clash with Emily Ory / Brianna Gomez.

UNCG (9-12) answered with a 6-2 victory by Nancy Bridges / Erika Barquero as the No. 1 pair downed Holly Horsfall and Elsa Pool.

Samford bounced back with a 7-6 (7-4) win by Arianna Beltrame / Natalia De Ugarte, who squared off against fellow No. 3 doubles Sophia Adams / Eugenia Camacho, to earn the first point.

Jennings picked up her second win of the day in singles when she downed Bridges 7-6 (7-1), 6-1 in the battle of No. 1 singles. Samford stretched its lead to 3-0 following a win by de Ugarte, who defeated Adams by scores of 6-4, 6-1.

The fourth-seeded Spartans grabbed their lone win of the match when Barquero fought past Pool in No. 2 singles by scores of 6-4, 2-6, 6-2. Samford completed the win and advanced to the quarterfinals when Amanda Kilduff triumphed 7-5, 7-5 over Ory in No. 6 singles action.

UNCG capped off the 2018-19 season with its most overall wins (nine) since the 2012-13 slate, when it finished 14-7 overall. Three of those wins for the Spartans came in SoCon action, which marked the most since 2013-14 when they claimed five league wins.

Four individuals had double-digit wins for UNCG on the season, including Gomez (11), Adams (10), Bridges (10), Barquero (10). The tandem of Bridges / Barquero was responsible for the most doubles wins on the season (seven), while Adams / Camacho tallied six.