Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina women's tennis hits the road in Southern Conference action this weekend, traveling to instate league rival UNCG on Saturday afternoon looking to halt its current losing skid and earn its first conference victory of the season. Both the Catamounts and Spartans look to break into the win column in SoCon action with the first serve scheduled for 1 p.m. at the UNCG Tennis Courts.
Saturday's Matchup:
Western Carolina (8-8, 0-2 SoCon) at UNCG (2-12, 0-2 SoCon)
March 16 | 1:00 p.m. | UNCG Tennis Courts | Greensboro, N.C.
Live Stats: https://tinyurl.com/dw9nk22p
Last Time Out:
The Catamounts dropped their most recent matchup as the Mercer Bears left Cullowhee with a 6-1 win despite strong competition across all six singles and all three doubles courts. WCU nearly came away with the doubles point as Isabella Sambola and Angela Perez on the first court and Andrea Redondo and Dasha Osadova on the third court dropped tight 6-4 matches. Jade Groen and Madison Schwarz came away with a 7-6 (7-3) win in the second spot to avoid the sweep. On the singles courts, Groen picked up the Catamounts' sole point of the day in straight sets. Both Isabella Sambola and Madison Schwarz fought through three sets on the day, but both Catamounts dropped their singles matchups by scores of 6-3, 3-6, 0-6 and 6-2, 2-6, 6-7 (5-7) respectively.
The Spartans are currently on a five-match slide and haven't been in action since a March 7 matchup with Fairfield which saw UNCG fall in a tight 4-3 decision. Fairfield took the doubles point with wins on courts two and three before UNCG took a 3-2 lead with singles victories on courts six, four, and three, respectively. The match was decided when the visitors took the final two points on courts five and one to close out the match.
Players to Watch:
Jade Groen put a stop to a four-match skid with her win against Mercer. The sophomore from the Netherlands leads the team with nine wins on the season and holds a .692 win percentage on the second court this season. She also leads the Catamounts with nine doubles wins this season.
UNCG freshman Sydney Bly leads the Spartans in wins so far this season as she's picked up six in the sixth court. The newcomer picked up the first singles win of her collegiate career against Colorado in a tight 7-5, 6-4 match.
Common Opponents:
The Catamounts and Spartans have three common opponents so far this year, one of which was SoCon foe ETSU. Both teams dropped 7-0 decisions against the Bucs to open conference play. In addition, both teams picked up wins against Queens, though the Catamounts recorded a 7-0 win in Charlotte while UNCG earned a 5-2 win at home. The only difference in results between common opponents is the Western Carolina 6-1 win at home against Davidson. The Spartans fell on the road to the Wildcats by a score of 5-2.
Series History:
UNCG holds a healthy lead in the overall series with the Catamounts as the Spartans have 26 wins to their name compared to WCU's four. However, after recording the first win in the series in 2002, the Catamounts are an even 3-3 with UNCG over the last six meetings and are currently riding a two-match winning streak over the conference foe.
For the latest information on Catamount women's tennis, follow @catamounts or @catamountTennis on Twitter or go to www.catamountsports.com. In-match updates are on the Catamount women's tennis official tennis
