Matchday: Pirates Head To George Washington & Temple

Match 18: ECU (15-2) at George Washington (6-5)
Date	Friday, March 22
Time	12 noon (EST)
Location	Washington, D.C.(Southeast Tennis and Learning Center)
Social Media	Twitter: @ecuwtennis Instagram: @ecuwtennis Facebook: ECU Pirates Women's Tennis

Match 19: ECU (15-2) at Temple (9-4)
Date	Saturday, March 23
Time	6:30 p.m. (EST)
Location	Philadelphia, Pa. (Legacy Tennis Center)
Social Media	Twitter: @ecuwtennis Instagram: @ecuwtennis Facebook: ECU Pirates Women's Tennis

GREENVILLE, N.C. – On the longest winning streak in over 10 years, the ECU women's tennis team will have a pair of stern tests this weekend, heading to George Washington and Temple for road matches.

"Both George Washington and Temple are good teams with solid results this year," said head coach Tom Morros. "I expect both matches to be very competitive. It appears that both matches will be played indoors which always presents the home team an advantage. We had a good week in practice and seem well rested, and are looking forward playing both George Washington and Temple."

ECU (15-2) has been unstoppable since opening the season with a pair of losses against teams currently ranked in the top-12 of the country. ECU lost both of those matches on the road, but since then has won three straight road matches. The last two came this past weekend when the Pirates beat Elon (6-1) and North Carolina A&T (5-0).

The Pirates currently have six players that have won at least six straight singles matches. Celia Ruiz has won 11 straight and is 13-3 on the season, including 12-1 on the top two courts. Alisa Diercksen leads the team with an 18-8 mark and has won 10 straight, as has her doubles partner Lisa Hofbauer (13-10). Hofbauer has dominated on the top court, going 10-2 there. During their freshman campaigns, Martina Paladini-Jennings (15-6) and Minette Van Vreden (14-9) have already cracked double digit win totals, the pair have a chance to match Ruiz's freshman mark of 20 wins. Nastja Rettich has won eight straight matches and is 16-6 this season while Hsia Ho Chiao has won six straight and is 10-6.

In doubles, Hofbauer and Diercksen have a 14-4 mark as a duo, the most wins for an ECU partnership since Ruiz and Nicole LaDuca went 22-7 in 2015-16. Also closing in on ten wins is Ruiz and Van Vreden, with the pair at 9-1 on the season.

George Washington (6-5) started the year 3-1, but the Buff and Blue have lost two of its last three matches. Sara Grubac leads George Washington with a 13-8 singles record and is 6-2 on court three. Kararin Marinkovikj has a strong 8-3 mark on court four while Maria Siopacha is just 4-7 on court one. In doubles, Melis Bayraktaroglu and Siopacha have controlled the top court, going 6-2 there while Grubac and Marinkovikj are 7-4 on court two. The Pirates and the Buff and Blue have not met since the 2013 season, a match that ECU won 5-2.

Temple (9-4) has been unbeatable at home this season, winning all five matches there. The Owls are 58-61 (.487) in singles matches overall, but that number improves to 19-9 (.679) at home. Ruoyu Chen has handled the top court for Temple the majority of the season and is 6-2 there and 9-5 overall. Chen and Chunan Xiang have been the top doubles tandem for the Owls, going 7-2 as a duo, including 4-1 on the top court. Last season, Temple came to Greenville for a match and ECU took a 4-0 decision. Ruiz, Hofbauer and Rettich won singles matches after the Pirates took the doubles point that day.

First serve at George Washington is scheduled for 12 noon on Friday, March 22 at the Southeast Tennis and Learning Center. The Pirates will continue their trek north and take on Temple at 6:30 p.m., on Saturday, March 23 at the Legacy Tennis Center.

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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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