WOMEN'S TENNIS
THE GAME: North
Carolina A&T (2-9, 1-2 MEAC) vs. S.C. State (9-0, 1-0 MEAC)
When: Saturday,
March 17 at 1 p.m.
Where: Piedmont
Indoor Tennis Center
Admission: Free
GREENSBORO-The North Carolina A&T women's tennis team
has a tall order for Saturday.
"We are facing in the No. 1 team in the conference in S.C.
State," said A&T head coach James Dunwoody.
"They're a solid team. If we
could just compete with them, it would be an asset."
The Aggies will be hosting the Bulldogs (9-0) at 1 p.m., at
the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center. It
will be the Aggies' fourth conference match of the season. A&T is 2-9 overall and 1-2 in the MEAC
Southern Division. The Aggies need just
one more win against a division opponent to qualify for the MEAC Tournament in
April.
"We're trying to win one more match," Dunwoody said, adding
that the Aggies have just three more matches against Southern Division
opponents, including Saturday's contest against S.C. State. "The teams we play are pretty doggone good."
The Aggies have continued to work hard in practice to
prepare for conference matches. They
took last week off for spring break, but were back on the court this week.
After the break, Dunwoody is thinking about tweaking his
doubles lineups for Saturday's match in order to give junior Nianna Henry more
rest. Henry was hospitalized with an
allergic reaction over spring break. Dunwoody
added that Henry was still feeling a little ill at practice on Tuesday. If Henry sits out, it will likely mean
sophomore Kimberly Stalling will have a new doubles partner.
Dunwoody is thinking of pairing freshman Kenya Colbert with
Stalling, and then bringing sophomore Victorea Austin into doubles play and
pairing her with junior April Burrage.
Burrage and Colbert have been highly successful as a doubles duo,
winning at team-best four doubles matches thus far this season. Austin has yet to compete in doubles this
season.
Dunwoody has been pleased with the performance of his
players, and expect them to continue to develop and play with the dedicated
effort that they have all season. His
younger players have certainly stepped up this season.
Stalling and Austin are tied for the team lead with four
singles wins. Stalling won her last
singles match, which came against Florida A&M on March 5. She has won all three of her conference
singles matches to date and looks to extend that streak.
"Kimberly is playing well.
She has a good understanding of what she needs to do to win," Dunwoody
said. "Victorea is the most improved player on the team. It's a compliment to her that I moved her up
to No. 3. I believe that in this world,
if you do well, you should be promoted.
We'll keep her at No. 3 and see if she continues to improve."
Austin started the season not being in the starting singles
lineup, but performed well in spot starts and earned a spot at No. 6. She is 3-3 at the No. 6 spot and is 1-2 at
No. 3 since she earned her promotion.
The Aggies will next go to Boiling Springs on Monday to take
on Gardner-Webb at 2 p.m.
