Teams aim for strong spring seasons

The University of North Georgia (UNG) is aiming for another strong spring from its sports programs.

In 2019, the women's tennis team reached the Elite Eight for the first time as the men's tennis team made the NCAA tournament. The softball team won the Peach Belt Conference (PBC) for a sixth straight year and hosted an NCAA regional, and the baseball team earned the No. 1 seed in the PBC tournament.

"Our department is extremely excited about the natural progression of success that all 13 of our programs are making. The spring semester and sports season is a period of renewal and excitement and represents one of the most entertaining times of the year for UNG athletics," said Lindsay Reeves, UNG director of athletics. "We fully anticipate our spring sports continuing the momentum generated by this year's fall and winter sports' successes in competition, the classroom and within the community."

Here is a quick look at each spring team:

Women's tennis: UNG returns six players from a team that made the deepest postseason run in program history, led by juniors Adrienne Bofinger, Vaishali Jorge and Cibeles Zuddy and sophomore Claudelle Labonté Frey. The Nighthawks earned a program-record 22 victories in 2019. View the team's schedule.

Softball: Senior pitcher Kylee Smith leads a program that will aim for a seventh straight PBC championship. The Nighthawks have reached the NCAA Super Regional round six of the past eight seasons, including a national title in 2015. Fellow seniors Kaylyn Anthony and Lexi Duncan were two of UNG's top hitters in 2019. The Nighthawks face Team USA in an exhibition April 5 at the Twin Creeks Softball Complex at JJ Biello Park in Woodstock, Georgia, a matchup that is part of the "Stand Beside Her" tour to prepare Team USA for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. See the team's full schedule.

Men's tennis: Juniors Ryan Gaskin and Zack Waldow lead seven returnees from a team that finished 15-8 and made its sixth NCAA tournament appearance in eight seasons. View the team's schedule.

Baseball: After UNG tied for the regular-season PBC title in 2019, its third PBC championship in five seasons, the Nighthawks have six seniors and welcome back redshirt junior catcher Andres Perez, who had 23 home runs in 2018 but took a medical redshirt in 2019. See the team's schedule.

Women's golf: The Nighthawks finished the fall season ranked in a tie for No. 24 nationally. The fall marked the program's first-ever appearances in the national rankings. First-year head coach Sierra Campbell hopes senior Megan Sabol can continue to lead UNG to new heights during the spring. View the team's schedule.

Men's golf: UNG will aim to build off a fall season in which it finished sixth out of 13 teams at the NCAA South/Southeast Regional Preview. See the team's schedule.

Women's track and field: In the program's fourth year, Abigail Kirkland returns as the 400-meter hurdles PBC champion while Imani Arnold was fourth in the 800 meters, fifth in the high jump, and sixth in the 400 meters. View the team's schedule.