GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) women's tennis team took to the courts this afternoon for a home affair with Big South foe Radford. The match was forced indoors at the Piedmont Tennis Center due to the threat of high winds.
The Spartans, playing up to form, disposed of the Highlanders 7-0. The win takes the Spartans to 3-6 on the year, surpassing the win total for the entire 2022 season.
"It's a great win for us," stated sophomore transfer
Luna Urso. "Everyone played very well. We had a couple of great comebacks. Personally, I feel I played one of my best matches of the year. I did everything we talked about in practice this week. We are full of confidence and ready to get back on the courts Saturday."
In doubles, the Spartans struggled early, dropping court three by the score of 6-2. On court two the new duo of McCullough Perry and
Raegan Mitchell played brilliantly winning 6-4. The doubles point came down to court one.
Olivia Gallagher and
Hanna Giddings trailed, 5-1. But the tandem battled back to take a 6-5 lead in the set. After Radford held serve, the Spartans pulled out the tiebreaker 8-6 to give them the overall 1-0 lead. UNCG never looked back after that.
Giddings stepped up to play the number one spot today. She rolled to a 6-2, 6-2 win to bring the score to 2-0 for the Spartans.
Mitchell continued the wave for UNCG, dropping her opponent on court five, 6-1, 6-1. At 3-0,
Alexandra Dodashev sealed the deal for the Spartans for her second clinch of the year, 6-2, 6-2.
"Sometimes a day off can really help you regroup," said Dodashev. "I realized Sunday when I sat out what I needed to do to help the team. We have a lot to prove moving forward."
With the match in hand, Urso finished off her match on court six, 6-1, 6-1 to take the tally to 5-0. Next in line was
Juliana Craft on court four. She struggled in the first set after being up 3-0, dropping the set 6-4. After composing herself, she rallied for a 6-0 win in the second set and closed out the third set tiebreaker, 10-8.
The last Spartan to finish was Gallagher. "It happened again today," Thomson started off. "I do not know what it is and have no answers or rationale for it. "Liv continues to get the toughest outs and toughest courts every single match. It is a testament to her resiliency and her growth from last year as to how well she is handling her matches."
Dropping the first set 6-7, Gallagher battled back from an 0-3 deficit in the second set. This time winning 7-6 to send the match to a third set tie breaker. Keeping her composure, she was able to hold on to a 10-8 win in the third. This would give the Spartans a sweep for the day, 7-0.
Thomson concluded by saying, "They needed this. They have worked so hard and have grown so much as a team over the last few months. I hope this will give them some momentum and build their confidence moving forward."
The Spartans will take a brief recovery day off before they hit the road for a short trip to Winston-Salem to face off against their second ACC opponent of the season, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Match time is slated for 4:00pm Saturday afternoon.
