March 16, 2012

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University women's tennis team will welcome the UNCG Spartans to the Samford Tennis Center on Saturday as the Bulldogs play host to the Spartans in a critical early-Southern Conference showdown to begin at 2 p.m. (CDT).

Samford (9-2, 1-1 SoCon) enters the match with a full head of steam after earning a 5-2 triumph against Georgia Southern last week. With the conference win, the Bulldogs improved their record at home this season to 9-1. Samford's lone loss at home this season occurred March 8 against College of Charleston.

In the Bulldogs' home win against Georgia Southern, Samford took an early 1-0 lead in the match by winning the doubles point. On court No. 3, the Bulldogs' combination of Stephanie N'tcha and Adri Lochner breezed to an 8-0 victory, while Samford's No. 1 singles pairing of Kristin Lewis and Lindsey Mallory defeated Georgia Southern's duo comprised of Natalie Maffett and Alexis Prickett, 8-3.

With their doubles-clinching victory, the Bulldogs' Lewis and Lindsey Mallory improved their team-best record on the season to 10-1.

Samford's doubles team of true freshman, Lochner and N'tcha, registered their fourth-straight victory and moved to 6-2 when competing on court No. 3.

After winning the doubles point, the Bulldogs quickly increased their decisive lead to 5-0 with straight-set singles victories from Madelie Janse Van Rensburg, N'tcha, Rebecca Kirven and Jessica Diamond.

Rensburg, Samford's senior native of Franschhoek, South Africa, improved to 9-1 this season when playing on court No. 2. N'tcha then tallied a 6-1, 6-0 triumph on court No. 3, while Kirven defeated the Eagles' Allison Beeler, 6-2, 6-0, in the No. 4 singles contest.

On court No. 5, the Bulldogs' Diamond cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Georgia Southern's Cameron Williams. With the victory, she improved her singles record on the season to 1-1.

UNCG (5-4, 0-0 SoCon) heads into Saturday's contest with a full head of steam after earning victories in five of its last seven matches. The Spartans are coming off a 4-3 loss at Charleston Southern on March 10. UNCG took the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3 and earned wins at Nos. 1 and 2 singles.

The Spartans are one of the last teams to get into the SoCon play this season, while some conference foes have already played as many as four league matches by Saturday.

UNCG redshirt junior Niltooli Wilkins paces UNCG with an 18-6 singles record and is 8-1 in dual play, all at No. 1. She has won eight straight since opening the dual campaign with a 7-5, 7-5 loss to No. 44 Zoe De Bruycker of North Carolina on Jan. 18.

In last season's annual meeting between the teams, Samford fell short in a hotly-contested 4-3 decision to the Spartans held at the UNCG Tennis Center.

Following Saturday's contest versus UNCG, the Samford University women's tennis team will next be in action Sunday at noon (CDT) as the Bulldogs conclude their four-match SoCon homestand against the Elon Phoenix in a critical conference showdown to be held at the Samford Tennis Center.