GREENSBORO, North Carolina - The UNCW women's team played one of its most complete matches of the season on Wednesday in a 6-1 thumping of No. 70 UNC Greensboro at the UNCG Tennis Courts.
The surging Seahawks extended their winning streak to five matches and moved to 14-3 this spring. The Spartans, ranked 70th in the ITA poll, fell to 5-3.
"Today was a typical tough match with UNCG," said Jenny Garrity, UNCW's longtime coach. "They are extremely deep this year and I knew it was going to take a big effort from our entire lineup from top to bottom.
"Our girls really stepped up in doubles and won when UNCG started to make a comeback. We carried a lot of momentum into singles."
UNCW took control early by winning the doubles point behind the play of the No. 2 and No. 3 units. After losing at the top slot, UNCW's Christina Lee and Lindsay Leblang brought the Seahawks even with a tight 8-6 win over Tooli Wilkins and Lucy Dougherty at No. 2. Chelsea Kahle and Kelly Cameron then delivered the crucial point with an identical score against Mikayla Rogers and Devon Sutherland at No. 3 doubles.
The Seahawks wasted no time in putting the match away in singles, winning the first three matches off the court to improve to 3-2 in away outings.
Freshman Angie Sekely got things rolling with a 6-1, 6-0 pounding of Stephanie Macfarlane at No. 3 singles and Cameron dispatched Dilara Yurtkuran, 6-4, 6-0, at No. 4 to push the score to 3-0. Kahle then clinched the match with a 6-1, 6-3 decision over Dougherty at No. 5 singles.
Veteran Lindsay Leblang ousted Annette Rios, 6-3, 6-4, at the No. 6 slot for her fifth consecutive singles victory and Lee picked up her second win of the day with a hard-fought 4-6, 7-5, 1-0 (7) verdict over Alex Whitehead at No. 2 singles.
Garrity said, "Angie (Sekely) and Kelly (Cameron) jumped on their opponents right off the bat to get us up, 3-0, and that really gave us a spark that carried over to the rest of the courts.
"I'm really impressed with how our team is competing right now. The play hard every day in practice and they're starting to see it pay off in matches. We're looking forward to a few days off for spring break before we start preparing for a talented East Carolina team next week."
Garrity's club returns to the court on Wednesday, March 23, when regional rival East Carolina visits the UNCW courts for a 2 p.m. match.
