North Carolina 7, UNCG 0
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - UNCG opened its women's tennis spring season Wednesday, Jan. 23, falling 7-0 to No. 8 North Carolina at the Tar Heels' Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.
"We were very competitive today," said head coach Jeff Trivette. Our kids should be very proud of their effort and play. We went up against one of the best teams in the country and held our own. We are by no means satisfied, we want to win them all."
In doubles play, seniors Niltooli Wilkins and Alex Whitehead lost 8-4 to North Carolina's Lauren McHale (No. 111) and Tessa Lyons (No. 101).
North Carolina's 21st-ranked Whitney Kay and Caroline Price (No. 36) took an 8-2 win over senior Annette Rios and sophomore Kayla Gammie. North Carolina's Laura Slater and Kate Vialle had a 7-4 lead against sophomore Stephanie Falcon and junior Dilara Yurtkuran but the match went unfinished.
In singles action, Wilkins stormed out to a 4-2 lead in the first set against No. 11 Gina Suarez-Malaguti. Suarez-Malaguti tied the set at 4-4 before Wilkins regained the lead at 5-4. Suarez-Malaguti would win the next three games to take the first set 7-5, before winning the second set, 6-0.
Yurtkuran fell to McHale 6-2 in the first set and lost in a close second set, 7-5. North Carolina's Kay (No. 21) defeated Whithead 6-0, 6-0.
Rios held a lead in the first set at 4-3 but Lyons, ranked No. 101 would come back to take the set 6-4. Rios fought to take the second set, 7-6(8-6), but fell 12-10 in a third-set tiebreaker.
No. 65 Ashley Dai took a 6-1, 6-2 win over freshman Soumeya Anane, while Gammie lost 6-2, 6-0 against North Carolina's Slater.
UNCG will return to action against NC State, Thursday, Feb. 7. That match is set for 4 p.m.
North Carolina 7, Elon 0
ELON, N.C. - The Elon University women's tennis team dropped its first dual competition of the season on Wednesday night, Jan. 23, dropping a 7-0 decision to eighth-ranked North Carolina at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.
The doubles team of Jordan Johnston and Frida Jansaker suffered their first setback of the season and only their third loss in the last two seasons. The duo dropped an 8-2 decision to North Carolina's McHale and Dai. UNC completed the sweep at doubles, winning at No. 2 and 3 to take a 1-0 match lead.
Viviana Stavreva battled tough against the Tar Heels' 101st-ranked Tessa Lyons at the No. 3 singles position. After dropping a 6-2 decision in the first set, Stavreva took Lyons to a tiebreaker in the second, but fell, 7-6.
The Tar Heels clinched the match at No. 6 singles to take a 4-0 lead, as Laura Slater topped Elon's 119th-ranked Briana Berne in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1.
UNC boasts a nation-best seven ranked singles players and two ranked doubles pairs entering this season.
The Phoenix returns this week with back-to-back matches at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center in Greensboro, N.C. The Phoenix takes on Richmond on Friday, Jan. 25, at 3 p.m. before facing Wake Forest on Saturday, Jan. 26, at 4 p.m.