SPARTANBURG, S.C. - UNCG's Niltooli Wilkins has been named the Southern Conference Women's Tennis Player of the Week for all matches April 9-15 the conference announced today (April 17).  Wilkins went 5-1 in singles and doubles play last week as the Spartans (15-5, 10-0 SoCon) captured their first outright Southern Conference regular season title.  UNCG beat Elon (5-2) and Western Carolina (7-0) and lost a non-conference match at UNC Wilmington (4-3) last week.  The Player of the Week selection is made by the conference office.

Wilkins won all three of her singles contests and has now won 19 singles matches this spring.  She improved to 10-0 in league play at No. 1 singles and dropped just 12 games in three matches last week.

The Burnsville, Minn., native topped Elon's Jordan Johnston 6-1, 6-3 and cruised past UNC Wilmington's Christina Lee,
6-2, 6-3.  Wilkins put a cap on her regular season with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Western Carolina's Ainhoa Iglesias Diaz.

Competing at No. 1 doubles, Wilkins and Lucy Dougherty fell to Elon's Johnston and Frida Jansaker, 8-4.  Paired with Dilara Yurtkuran for the first time this season, UNCG's top pair claimed a 9-7 victory over UNCW's Lee and Alyssa Ritchie.  Wilkins and Yurtkuran then beat WCU's Diaz and Megan McLinden, 8-0. 

Other top performers in the Southern Conference included Appalachian State's Jennifer Ansari, College of Charleston's Caroline Newman, Elon's Frida Jansaker, Furman's Margaret Boyette, Georgia Southern's Alexis Prickett, Samford's Stephanie N'tcha, Chattanooga's Kaylene Chadwell and Western Carolina's Ainhoa Iglesias Diaz.

SoCon Women's Tennis Player of the Week
Feb. 14 - Paola Garrido, Georgia Southern
Feb. 21 - Samantha Maddox, College of Charleston
Feb. 28 - Kristen Lewis, Samford
March 7 - Kaylene Chadwell, Chattanooga
March 13 - Jordan Johnston, Elon
March 20 - Christin Newman, College of Charleston
March 27 - Niltooli Wilkins, UNCG
April 3 - Annette Rios, UNCG
April 10 - Kaylene Chadwell, Chattanooga
April 17 - Niltooli Wilkins, UNCG