The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's tennis team continues its Southern Conference schedule with a pair of road matches this weekend. The Lady Mocs visit UNCG on Saturday, March 9, and Elon on Sunday, March 5.
Match time against the Spartans is 12:00 p.m. (E.S.T.) at the UNCG Tennis Courts in Greensboro, N.C. UTC then travels to Elon, N.C., for Sunday's 1:00 p.m. dual with the Phoenix at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.
Chattanooga is off to a 9-1 start for the second year in a row. Before last season, the Lady Mocs did not have nine wins in their first ten matches since the 1991 campaign. UTC is 1-1 in SoCon action after splitting matches with Appalachian State (L, 2-4) and Western Carolina (W, 7-0) last weekend.
UNCG is 4-4 overall and 1-0 in SoCon action with a 7-0 sweep over Western Carolina. UTC is looking to snap a seven-match slide against the Spartans. The last time the Lady Mocs posted a win in the series was a 4-3 victory on March 26, 2006, in Greensboro. UNCG won both contests last season, including a 5-2 dual in Chattanooga on March 18 and a 4-0 win in the SoCon Tournament on April 21 in Charleston, S.C.
Elon is off to an impressive 10-1 start to the season and ranked No. 59 in the nation. It is the first-ever national ranking for the Phoenix, whose only loss was to No. 1 North Carolina (7-0) in the season opener. UTC has won two-straight in the series, including last year's 4-3 victory on March 20 on the UTC Tennis Courts.
Freshman Kayla Jones (Memphis, Tenn.) continues her hot start with a 10-0 record in the spring. She leads the Lady Mocs with a 21-2 overall record, playing mostly the No. 3 position. She has only been pushed to three sets once this spring and has dropped just eight games in her last four wins.
Sophomore Claire Mulyadi (Semarang, Indonesia) is also undefeated in the spring with a 9-0 mark. She is 14-4 overall and most of her wins have come at No. 5 and No. 6.
Senior Jenna Nurik (Roswell, Ga.) and sophomore Kaylene Chadwell (Franklin, Tenn.) are both 9-1 in the spring. Nurik is the Lady Mocs No. 1 player and trying to become the first four-time All-SoCon performer in school history. Chadwell holds down the No. 2 spot and is on a nine-match winning streak.
Nurik and Chadwell are also UTC's top doubles teams. They are 8-1 in the spring and are currently riding a six-match winning streak.