GREENSBORO, N.C. - Returning to Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center, UNCG women's tennis hosted its third match of the season this Saturday, falling 4-3 to the East Carolina Pirates. ECU improves to 2-2 on the year, while the Spartans' spring record stands at 1-3 after the loss.

In what proved to be the difference maker, the Pirates swept doubles play to open up the weekend contest, with the Spartans' top combo of Erika Barquero and Hanna Giddings experiencing their first loss of the 2020 campaign, 6-4. 

Singles play was split down the middle, with both UNCG and East Carolina collecting three wins apiece. Senior Sophia Adams picked up her third individual win of the year after defeating the Pirates' No. 2 in straight sets. 

Brianna Gomez and Eugenia Camacho each moved to 3-1 on the year as well, tallying wins in the fourth and fifth spots respectively. Gomez finished off the Pirates' No. 4 in straight 6-3 sets, while Camacho won her first and third by scores of 6-4 and 6-3.

Barquero opened her matchup against ECU's Lisa Hofbauer on a 7-5 win before seeing the Pirates' top-seed tally back-to-back set victories. Hanna Giddings came within just a few games of giving her team the match win, beating the ECU third seed 7-5 in the opening frame before dropping the last two. Giddings forced both the second and third to 7-6 finals, but neither would fall in the redshirt-freshman's favor, as the Pirates took home the 4-3 advantage.

COMING UP NEXT
The Spartans have a quick turnaround this week, while embarking on their second road match of the spring season. UNCG will take the trip to Boone, N.C. this Tuesday, February 11th, to matchup with the Appalachian State Mountaineers. While ASU has won its last two contests against the Spartans, UNCG is 5-2 against the side dating back to 2012. 

--UNCG–