Gameday: ECU Starts Seven Match In Five Days Stretch

Match 9: UNC Wilmington (4-4) at ECU (6-2)
Date	Thursday, Feb. 28
Time	2 p.m. (EST)
Location	Greenville, N.C. (ECU Indoor Tennis Center)
Social Media	Twitter: @ecuwtennis Instagram: @ecuwtennis Facebook: ECU Pirates Women's Tennis

Match 10: ECU (6-2) at South Carolina State (2-0)
Date	Friday, March 1
Time	9 a.m. (EST)
Location	Orangeburg, S.C. (Hardeep Judge Tennis Center)
Social Media	Twitter: @ecuwtennis Instagram: @ecuwtennis Facebook: ECU Pirates Women's Tennis

Match 11-16: ECU (6-2) vs. Birmingham Southern/Grand Valley State/NC Wesleyan/Hampton/Saginaw Valley State
Date	Saturday, March 2/ Sunday, March 3/ Monday, March 4
Location	Orlando, Fla.
Social Media	Twitter: @ecuwtennis Instagram: @ecuwtennis Facebook: ECU Pirates Women's Tennis

GREENVILLE, N.C. – A stretch of seven matches in five days starts for the ECU women's tennis team when they host UNC Wilmington on Thursday afternoon at the River Birch Tennis Complex.

ECU (6-2) is on a six-match winning streak after starting the season 0-2. Lisa Hofbauer and Alisa Diercksen have raised their play during the winning streak, as Hofbauer has gone 6-0 in singles on court one while Dierksen is a perfect 6-0 on court three. Celia Ruiz made her return from injury at the start of the winning streak and is now 4-1 on court two. Nastja Rettich, Martina Paladini-Jennings and Minette Van Vreden all have three singles wins as well.

In doubles, Diercksen and Hofbauer have won four straight matches after starting the dual match season 0-3 as a pair. The pairing is 9-4 overall to lead the team. Ruiz and Van Vreden have only played five matches together, but are 4-1, all on court two. Hsia Ho Chiao and Nastja Rettich have been the third doubles pairing for ECU and are 3-2 on court three.

UNC Wilmington (4-4) has been much better at home than on the road this season. The Seahawks are 3-1 in friendly confines and 1-3 on the road, including consecutive losses to Charleston and Charleston Southern last weekend. Maddy Muller-Hughes leads UNC Wilmington with a 6-1 singles record, including 3-1 on court one while Sabrina Barisano is also 6-1. In doubles, the pairing of Muller-Hughes and Barisano is 5-3, all on the top court. Last season, the Pirates beat the Seahawks 5-2, with Ruiz, Hofbauer and Rettich getting victories.

After the match against Wilmington, ECU will travel to South Carolina State (2-0) to start its spring break roadtrip. The Bulldogs have beaten UNC Wilmington (4-2) and Radford (4-3) to start the year. The last time these two teams met was in 2017 when ECU won 6-1 in Orangeburg, S.C. Ruiz, Hofbauer and Rettich also won their matches that day.

ECU will play five matches in three days down in Orlando, Fla. First up will be a meeting with Birmingham-Southern (4-0) on Saturday, March 2. The Pirates will take on both Grand Valley State (13-2) and North Carolina Wesleyan (1-0) on Sunday, March 3 before finishing the trip with matches against Hampton (0-4) and Saginaw Valley State (6-9) on Monday, March 4.

First serve for Thursday's match is scheduled for 2 p.m., at the River Birch Tennis Complex. Fans can also follow the team on Twitter at @ecuwtennis for score updates.

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Players Mentioned

Alisa Diercksen

Lisa Hofbauer

Ho Chiao Hsia

Martina Paladini-Jennings

Nastja Rettich

Celia Ruiz

Minette Van Vreden

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