ELON, North Carolina - The 63^rd-ranked UNCW women's tennis team lost the early doubles point, but rallied with a vengeance in singles, winning five of six matches, to throttle Elon, 5-2, in a matchup of state rivals Tuesday at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.

        The Seahawks pushed their record to 5-4 overall with the non-conference victory. The Phoenix had their six-match winning streak ended and now own an 8-3 mark.

        "I was very proud of the way we bounced back in singles after losing the doubles point," said Jenny Garrity, UNCW's 14^th-year coach. ":Give a lot of credit to Elon for coming out with a lot of energy. They kept us on our heels early.

        "But our team responded very well and showed how truly competitive they are by taking an early lead in singles. I was very pleased with how we maintained our focus and game plan and never let them back into the match."

        Elon grabbed an early 1-0 lead after winning the doubles points with victories at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions. The Seahawks did post a win at No. 2 doubles when senior Christina Lee and freshman Alyssa Ritchie fashioned an 8-3 verdict over Viviana Stavreva and Maria Camara Ruiz.

        UNCW evened the match at 1-all when Bryn Khoury retired in her No. 1 singles match with Lee after trailing, 4-1, in the first set. The Seahawks then extended the margin to 2-1 after Kelly Cameron breezed past Stavreva, 6-1, 6-4, at No. 4 singles.

        The Phoenix responded to tie the match at 2-all, but the Seahawks closed it out with successive wins at No. 1, 3 and 6 singles for the key road victory. Sophomore Olga Blank defeated Jordan Johnston, 6-3, 7-5, at No. 1 singles before sophomore Angie Sekely clinched the match with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 triumph over Barbora Lazarova at No. 3 singles.

        Junior Christina Riley gave the Seahawks their fifth singles victory by trouncing Ruiz, 6-3, 6-3, at No. 6 singles.

        The Seahawks return to the court Saturday to entertain another Southern Conference opponent, UNC Greensboro, at 11 a.m.

        Garrity said: "We look forward to welcoming another SoCon opponent Saturday when UNCG comes to Wilmington. We always have very close matches with them."