Chelsea McBay
Staff Writer
On Saturday, March 30, the UNCG women’s tennis team took on the Samford Bulldogs at the UNCG Tennis Stadium, winning the meet 5-2. Coming off another 5-2 conference victory against Western Carolina Catamounts on March 28, the Spartans came into this matchup with some momentum.
It was the last home match of the season for the Spartans. Their lone senior, Nancy Bridges, was celebrated pre- and post-game by the entire team and coaching staff.
“Everyone wants to get a win on senior day for the senior,” coach Ale Guerra said after the game.
Bridges and Guerra have been together for all of Bridges’ collegiate careers. “[I appreciate] her attitude towards everything and her fight on and off the court, along with her spirit,” Guerra said.
The meet started out with doubles play. Samford got the first win, posting a 6-1 victory over the tandem of Sophia Adams and Eugenia Camacho. UNCG quickly rebounded, tying up the play 1-1 with a win of 6-3 coming off the rackets of Erika Barquero and Bridges. That pairing played particularly well together.
“Both have very strong groundstones and they are both very aggressive. Their gamestyles are very similar,” Guerra said. Watching them play, one could see that this was true. They played very well.
In the last game of doubles play, UNCG teammates Emily Ory and Brianna Gomez faced off against the Samford pairing of Grace Jennings/Mary Katherine Lewis. The Bulldogs won that matchup by a close score of 6-7.
Continuing into singles play, the first match was between our Camacho and Samford’s Arianna Beltrame. Camacho got the victory, winning 6-1, 6-1 in both her sets. However, Samford rebounded the next match by getting a victory from Mary Catherine Lewis, who beat Emily Ory 6-2, 6-3 in two sets.
Camacho played very well in her singles match. Coach Guerra talked about what made her so dominant. “She transferred from a different school, so she didn’t get to play as much last year. She has that fire. She has the opportunity to be back on the court, so she is ready to go.” She is a player to watch from this team for the future.
The Blue and Gold were tied 1-1 in singles play before Gomez, a sophomore, defeated her competitor, Holly Horsfall, 6-2, 6-3. Barquero also won in hermatch, 6-4 in the first set and 6-4 in her second against Elsa Pool.
Another point was clinched by Sophia Adams when she took down Natalia De Ugarte by a score of 6-3, 1-6, 6-1.
The overall victory was of course clinched by none other than Nancy Bridges. It was only natural, considering it was senior day. In the last singles match, Bridges took down Samford’s Grace Jennings by a margin of 6-7, 6-3, and 6-3. It was a fitting way for Bridges to end her home match career with the Spartans.
This was a well-fought win for UNCG. Hopefully, the G will be able to carry their compounded momentum into their next matchup. With the victory, they improved their record to 7-10 overall and 2-3 in Southern Conference play. Their next matchup will be this Saturday, April 6, at 12:00 pm at Chattanooga.
Categories: Sports
THE CAROLINIAN 
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