CCU

Men's Tennis Begins Season Against Mount Olive on Saturday

       

Men's Tennis Begins Season Against Mount Olive on Saturday

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WEEK 1 NOTES:

THIS WEEK'S MATCHES:
Opponent: Mount Olive (Community Day on the Clay)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 2
Location: Riverfront in Conway, S.C.
Times: 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. (Doubleheader)

SCOUTING MOUNT OLIVE: The Trojans open the 2008 spring season against Coastal Carolina... Mount Olive enters the season ranked 40th in the ITA Division II preseason poll and third in the Conference Carolinas preseason poll... The doubles team of Guilherme Serra and Vitor Lage are ranked seventh in the Mid-Atlantic Region... The Trojans have 11 players on their roster, including five seniors, one junior, two sophomores and four freshmen.

LET THE SPRING SEASON BEGIN: Coastal Carolina’s 2008 campaign begins Community Day on the Clay on Saturday, Feb. 2 against Mount Olive. Saturday’s season opener will be a doubleheader with start times scheduled for 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. This year marks the third time in four years in which the Chanticleers have opened the season against Mount Olive.

RAISING MONEY FOR THE CLIFF ELLIS FOUNDATION: All proceed collected from Community Day on the Clay will go to the Cliff Ellis Foundation, which was formed by Coastal Carolina men’s basketball head coach Cliff Ellis and his wife Carolyn. For information on the Cliff Ellis Foundation, go to www.cliffellisfoundation.org.

CHANTS SELECTED FOURTH IN PRESEASON POLL: Coastal Carolina’s men’s tennis team was picked fourth and earned 57 points in the Big South preseason poll that was announced on Jan. 17. Defending tournament champion Radford was picked to finish first, receiving 96 points and 12 first-place votes.

VENUE CHANGES: Due to maintenance on the courts at Billy Nichols Tennis Center, several of CCU’s matches have been moved to alternative locations. The Feb. 5 match versus Queens University will be at Prestwick County Club in Myrtle Beach. Currently, five other matches will be held at the City of Myrtle Beach Tennis Center.

QUICK LOOK AT THE FALL: Head Coach Chris Powers got a quick preview of the 2008 Chanticleers during the fall season as CCU participated in three invitationals and had one double dual.
CCL-UNCW Collegiate Tennis Invitational (Sept. 7-8): Sophomore Dmitry Vlaskin advanced to the Teal Flight finals, where he was scheduled to play UNC Wilmington’s Michael Pereira. However, the finals were rained out due to Tropical Storm Gabrielle off the North Carolina coast.
UNC Invitational (Sept. 21-23): Doubles partners junior Joseph Withers and freshman John Hairston finished second in C doubles.  Withers and Hairston advanced through the first two rounds before ultimately losing. Meanwhile, five Chants placed in the top eight in singles competition.
Hidden Double Dual (Sept. 28): Coastal Carolina and Francis Marion split the day, each team winning one match. Francis Marion won the morning’s match 6-4, while CCU took the afternoon’s match 6-3, marking the Chants’ first win over the Patriots since 1992. Junior Christopher Ross da-Silva, sophomore Dmitry Vlaskin and freshman Carlo Checchia were all undefeated.
University of South Carolina Invitational (Oct. 12-14): Freshman Carlo Checchia advanced to the B-4 finals and came just short of the individual title after taking eventual champion Alan Donald to three sets. Meanwhile, junior Joseph Withers and freshman Omar El Bouskouri marched their way through B-2 doubles with 8-2 wins over their first two opponents in order to advance to the finals.  The pair lost 8-5 in the finals.

FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH: With only three upperclassmen, most of CCU’s 2008 tennis roster is made up of underclassmen. The team has one senior (David Mellis), two juniors (Christopher Ross da-Silva and Joseph Withers), three sophomores (Ernesto Ramos, Plamen Tzvetkov and Dmitry Vlaskin) and three freshmen (Carlo Checchia, Omar El Bouskouri and John Hairston).

THEY’RE BAAA-AAAACK: With four seniors on last year’s team, senior David Mellis, junior Joseph Withers and sophomore Plamen Tzvetkov are the only returners to the 2008 squad.

COASTAL BOUND: Head Coach Chris Powers has brought in three transfer students. Those students include junior Christopher Ross da-Silva (Limestone) and sophomores Ernesto Ramos (Jacksonville) and Dmitry Vlaskin (Arkansas).

IT’S ALL ACADEMIC: CCU received its eighth straight ITA All-Academic Team selection in 2007. In order to be considered for the award, teams must have a 3.2 GPA or higher. Last year, the Chants posted a 3.6 team GPA. Individually, Coastal had six players named ITA Scholar-Athletes, which requires student-athletes to have at least a 3.5 GPA.

REDDING AND TZVETKOV NET ALL-BIG SOUTH HONORS: Richard Redding and Plamen Tzvetkov were one of four doubles teams to receive All-Big South honors in 2007. The pair went 16-8 overall and 5-1 in Big South action.

REDDING NAMED SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Richard Redding became the fourth different player and CCU’s seventh Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year last season. Redding ended his career with a 3.926 cumulative GPA, 49 career singles victories and 43 career doubles victories.

CHANTS RECORD BACK-TO-BACK WINNING SEASONS: CCU put together its first consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 1994-1996. The Chants were 15-8 in 2006 and 14-11 in 2007. In its last string of consecutive winning seasons, CCU was 16-2 in 1994, 9-6 in 1995 and 9-6 in 1996.