Pirates Return To Courts At UNC Greensboro

Match 4: ECU (1-2) at UNC Greensboro (1-2)
Date	Saturday, February 8
Time	1 p.m. (EST)
Location	Greensboro, N.C. (UNCG Tennis Courts)
Social Media	Twitter: @ECUWTennis Instagram: @ECUWTennis Facebook: ECU Pirates Women's Tennis

GREENVILLE, N.C. – After nearly two weeks off, the ECU women's tennis team will return to the courts this Saturday for a road test at UNC Greensboro.

"Greensboro is always a difficult match," said head coach Tom Morris. "They are very well coached and we will have to be healthy and compete hard to get through this match. Doubles will be key, as well as our team depth."

ECU (1-2) is coming off its most exciting match of the season. The Pirates trailed James Madison on three different occasions, but fought back each time and a three-set tiebreaker victory for Hanna Axelsson clinched the 4-3 win for the Pirates. Nastja Rettich (9-7) and Sibel Tanik (9-8) both lead the Pirates with nine wins each. Lisa Hofbauer has held the top court for ECU, going 1-2 there and is 3-6 overall. Michelle Ncube is 8-8, but has struggled recently, going 0-3 in dual matches.

During the team's layoff, head coach Tom Morris announced his retirement after 22 seasons in charge of the Pirates. Morris has won 316 victories in charge of the women's program, making him ECU's all-time leader in wins. Morris will have eight more matches during his tenure, as his retirement will take effect on March 1. Current associate head coach Kirstin Burgess will take over as interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

UNC Greensboro (1-2) opened the spring with a 5-2 win against UNCW, but has dropped consecutive matches to UNC Asheville (4-3) and Charlotte (5-2). Erika Barquero is a perfect 3-0, with all three wins coming on court one. Sophia Adams (court two), Brianna Gomez (court four) and Eugenia Camacho (court six) are all 2-1. In doubles, Barquero and Hanna Giddins are 3-0 on the top court, but they are the only Spartan pair to wins a doubles match, as UNCG has dropped the doubles point in all three of its matches.

ECU and UNCG are 6-6 against each other over the past 12 years. However, ECU has dominate the series in recent years. The Pirates have won three straight against the Spartans and five of six. Rettich has gone a perfect 3-0 against UNCG in her career while Hofbauer and Alisa Diercksen have each won a pair of matches. Ho Chiao Hsia and Minette Van Vreden are both 1-0 against the Spartans.

First serve is scheduled 1 p.m., on Saturday afternoon at the UNCG Tennis Courts.

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Players Mentioned

Hanna Axelsson

Alisa Diercksen

Lisa Hofbauer

Ho Chiao Hsia

Michelle Ncube

Nastja Rettich

Sibel Tanik

Minette Van Vreden

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