UNCG 5, East Carolina 2
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Coming off its 5-2 win over Coastal Carolina in its home opener, UNCG traveled to East Carolina and defeated the Pirates by an identical 5-2 score on Wednesday evening at the ECU Tennis Complex.
The Spartans (2-1) started the match on a good note as they claimed the doubles point. Stephanie Macfarlane and Alex Whitehead combined to cruise to an 8-1 win at No. 1 doubles. The duo of Lucy Dougherty and Niltooli Wilkins followed with an 8-4 victory of their own to clinch the doubles point for UNCG.
Manon Bissat and Neena Wanko won at No. 3 doubles for the Pirates (2-1), 8-4, but it was too late as the Spartans had already clinched the point.
Similar to the match against Coastal Carolina, the Spartans dropped the first singles match to allow the Pirates to tie the match at one. Petra Vogel scored a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 2 singles to give ECU its first point of the day.
The Pirates actually took a 2-1 lead after Natalie Collins defeated Dilara Yurtkuran, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 4 singles. It was all UNCG the rest of the afternoon as it took four straight three-set matches.
Stephanie Macfarlane got the ball rolling for the Spartans with a 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 3 singles over Audrey LePottier. Annette Rios put UNCG back in the lead at 3-2 with her 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 win against Yilian Zhang at No. 6 singles.
Niltooli Wilkins clinched the match for UNCG as she also had a comeback victory. She defeated Jessica Cook 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 to move to 3-0 on the young spring season.
Lucy Dougherty capped things off with her 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2) win over Neena Wanko at No. 5 singles to make the final team score, 5-2.
The Spartans will now have 10 days before opening Southern Conference play on Feb. 26, as they host Chattanooga at 1 p.m.
Samford 6, Jacksonville State 1
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. --- The Samford University women's tennis team extended its winning streak to three-consecutive matches Wednesday as the Bulldogs earned a 6-1 road victory against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks in an in-state duel held at the JSU Tennis Courts.
Samford (3-0) won two of the three doubles matches Wednesday to take an early 1-0 lead in the contest.
The Bulldogs' No. 1 doubles combination of Taylor Morgan and Lindsey Mallory outlasted Jacksonville State's duo comprised of Marani Vivane and Martina Dessbesell 8-6, while Samford's tandem of Madelie Janse Van Rensburg and Jessica Diamond breezed by the Gamecocks' pairing of Juliana Renesto and Kelly Tomlin 8-1 on court No. 3.
With their win, the Bulldogs' Morgan and Mallory improved to 2-1 this season. Samford's combination of Janse Van Rensburg and Diamond remained undefeated at 2-0 in the spring.
In singles play, the Bulldogs defeated their Jacksonville State (2-3) counterparts on five of the six courts to earn a 6-1 dual-match victory. Samford's Morgan, Andrie Meiring, Janse Van Rensburg, Kristin Lewis and Lindsey Mallory were all triumphant Wednesday.
The Bulldogs' Janse Van Rensburg and Lewis both improved to 3-0 this season with their singles wins. Janse Van Rensburg tallied a 6-2, 7-5 victory against Raisa Guasti on court No. 3, while Lewis cruised by Jacksonville State's Juliana Renesto in the No. 4 singles contest.
Samford improved to 2-0 in road matches this season. On Saturday, the Bulldogs registered a 5-2 victory at Charlotte.
The Samford University women's tennis team will next be in action Saturday at 10 a.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs play host to the North Florida Ospreys in the opening contest of a two-match homestand to be held at the Samford Tennis Center.