DAHLONEGA - The University of North Georgia tennis teams hits the road for all three matches this week, including the Peach Belt Conference opener at Georgia College.
Rankings: North Georgia's women held tight at No. 10 in the nation and No. 2 in the region.
Vaishali Jorge leads the way in singles, starting the year at No. 49 nationally and No. 9 regionally.
Adrienne Bofinger also starts the season ranked in the southeast, coming in at No. 20. Jorge and
Anna Marie Moller are the No. 8 doubles duo in the region. The Nighthawk men fell six spots to No. 24 in the nation and remained No. 5 in the Southeast Region.
Paul Pahun and
Ryan Gaskin are ranked Nos. 9 and 11, respectively, in the region as singles competitors, while Kevin Candido and Zach Waldow are the No. 8 doubles pair in the southeast.
Last Time Out: The Nighthawk women swept its matches last week, defeating Lenoir-Rhyne, 5-2, before taking down Catawba, 7-0. North Georgia's men also went 2-0 last week, winning at L-R, 4-3, before a 6-1 win at Catawba.
Scouting Tusculum: Tusculum's men are ranked No. 9 in the southeast region and are 6-1 on the year and 1-0 in South Atlantic Conference play. The Pioneers' only loss came to No. 12 UIndy at a neutral site. In regional rankings on the singles side, David Akinpetide is No. 15 and Francesco Bonacia is No. 17. The Nighthawks hold a 3-0 advantage in the all-time series with the only match at Tusculum being a 5-4 win for UNG. Tusculum's women come into Sunday's match ranked No. 17 nationally and No. 5 in the southeast. At 4-1 overall and 1-0 in SAC play, the only loss was to No. 4 UIndy to start the spring season. The Pioneer's have players ranked all over the national and regional rankings, including Annie McCullough at No. 7 national singles and No. 3 in the region; Annie/Caitlin McCullough as the No. 2 doubles duo both in the nation and the region; Caitlin McCullough at No. 14 in the region in singles play; Julia Lopez at No. 16 in southeast singles; and Julia Lopez/Africa Mota at No. 10 in southeast doubles. UNG is 3-1 against the Pioneers all-time and is 1-1 on the road at TU.
Scouting Georgia College: Georgia College's men are ranked No. 7 in the southeast region and are 1-3 at the early point in the season and 0-1 in league play. The Bobcats already have a loss to Lander on the schedule, falling 7-0. Matt Rogel is the No. 14 singles player in the region. Georgia College holds a 13-3 advantage with all three of UNG's wins coming in the last four meetings. Georgia College's women are ranked No. 8 in the region and are 0-4 to start 2020, including a 5-2 loss to Lander to kick off Peach Belt Conference play. Georgia College is 14-2 against UNG, but the Nighthawks have won the last two matchups after losing three straight decisions, 5-4.
Scouting Belmont Abbey: Belmont Abbey men are currently 3-6 on the year headed into Tuesday matches at William Peach and against West Virginia Wesleyan. The Crusaders are 1-0 in Conference Carolinas action, having beaten Chowan back on February 22. North Georgia is 4-0 against Belmont Abbey all-time with two of the four matchups happening in Belmont, including the closest matchup in the series, a 5-4 win for UNG to kick off the 2018 season. Belmont Abbey's women sit at 1-3 on the year and 0-1 in CC action. They will take on Lenoir-Rhyne prior to the UNG matchup. BAC fell to Augusta earlier this season, 5-2. North Georgia is 2-0 against Belmont Abbey with both times the two teams have faced being at BAC. UNG has dropped just one point to the Crusaders all-time.
