CHARLOTTE \u2014\u00a0Charlotte Women’s Tennis is starting the season with a heavy workload, beginning with a home doubleheader Friday against Queens at 9 a.m. and Elon at 12 p.m. at Lifetime Fitness.<\/p>\n
The 49ers will then head to Clemson, S.C., for Sunday’s doubleheader against the Tigers at 10 a.m. and South Carolina State at 5 p.m.<\/p>\n
Scouting the Weekend<\/p>\n
Clemson headlines the weekend slate after it outlasted Charlotte, 4-3, in the programs’ meeting last season at the Halton-Wagner Tennis Complex. The Tigers had a pair of singles standouts \u2014 No. 71 Ria Bhakta and No. 122 Amelie Smejkalova \u2014 earning spots in the latest ITA Singles Rankings.<\/p>\n
The Tigers also boast two pairs ranked in the doubles top 75.<\/p>\n
Elon went 19-6 last year, including a CAA Championship that earned the Phoenix an entry into the NCAA Tournament, where they fell to No. 10 Tennessee. South Carolina State also found success with a 16-5 mark that included a MEAC Championship before the Bulldogs fell to NC State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.<\/p>\n
Queens enters the year after posting a 1-18 record last season, including a 5-0 loss to Charlotte.<\/p>\n
Fall Stars<\/p>\n
Ni Xi<\/a> made program history with her singles run to an American Conference Individual Championship, which earned her a berth in the NCAA Singles Championship \u2014 the program’s first-ever qualifier for the event.<\/p>\n For her efforts, the now-sophomore was ranked No. 72 in the most recent ITA Singles Rankings.<\/p>\n Returning and New Niners<\/p>\n Charlotte returns nearly its entire team for the upcoming spring slate, with the exception of last year’s captain, Amira Badawi<\/a>, who graduated. In her stead, the 49ers added freshman Andrea Chacon<\/a> to a roster that returns each of its other seven members, including Prisca Abbas<\/a>, who finished last season with a 14-1 singles mark as a freshman \u2014 her only loss coming in the final match of the NCAA Championship.<\/p>\n Lucia Aranda<\/a> also returns after accumulating a team-best 19 singles wins, while Shona Nakano<\/a> and Xi will look to build on their combined 37 doubles wins a year ago.
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