The Chanticleers will visit Mercer and Wofford, then return home to take on No. 72 USC Upstate
Feb. 9, 2010
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COASTAL CAROLINA VISITS MERCER AND WOFFORD, THEN RETURNS HOME FOR NO. 72 USC UPSTATE
Coastal Carolina men’s tennis will begin the week on a two match road swing, taking on Mercer on Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 2 p.m., then traveling to Wofford on Thursday, Feb. 11 at 12 p.m. The Chanticleers will then return home to face No. 72 nationally ranked USC Upstate on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 11 a.m. Coastal had its annual “Community Day on the Clay,” which was successful in not only raising money for the Red Cross, but earning a 5-2 win over Campbell past Saturday, Feb. 6. With the win, the Chants improved to 2-1 on the season
AT MERCER
Overall: 3-0
Head Coach: Warren Woolfolk
Bears at a Glance: Mercer has had a 3-0 start to the season, blowing out its opponents, Alabama State 7-0, Fort Valley State 7-0 and North Georgia 9-0. The Bears have not lost a match in singles yet. Freshman standout Peter Tauchner is 3-0 on the season in singles, and earned his first start in the No. 1 spot, defeating North Georgia’s Luciano Paes 6-1, 6-3.
Series Record: The Chants and the Bears have only met four times with the series tied up at two wins apiece. Mercer was one of the Chanticleers’ victims during their 10 game win streak to start the season, losing 7-0 in Conway, S.C.
AT WOFFORD
Overall: 2-2
Head Coach: Rod Ray
Terriers at a Glance: With its most recent win over Brevard College, 7-0, Wofford improved its home win streak to 14 matches. The home win streak began way back on Feb. 28, 2008, when the Terriers defeated Big South foe UNC Asheville, 7-0. Wofford, however, has posted a 2-2 record this season, losing 6-1 to both Georgia Tech and Florida Atlantic.
Series Record: Last season, the Chanticleers defeated Wofford 6-1 for the first time in the three consecutive years they have met. Coastal leads the all-time series 6-4, with the Chanticleers hold a 3-2 record at Wofford.
No. 72 USC UPSTATE
Overall: 0-3
Head Coach: David Johnson
Spartans at a Glance: USC Upstate will be the second nationally ranked team the Chanticleers will take on in the beginning of the season. USC Upstate has had a rough an 0-3 start to the season after postponing three matches against unranked team and losing to nationally ranked opponents, No. 43 Georgia Tech 6-1, No. 7 Georgia 5-2, and most recently falling at No. 65 Clemson 5-2. Sophomore Edgar Rodriguez is ranked 16th regionally, according to ITAtennis.com and senior Jack Roux is one singles win away from becoming the second player in school history to reach 60 career wins.
Series Record: This will be the first meeting between the two teams since 2000 when USC Upstate was named USC Spartanburg. The Chanticleers hold a 3-0 advantage over USC Upstate in the all-time history.
COASTAL HAS A SUCCESSFUL COMMUNITY DAY ON THE CLAY
Coastal not only raised money for the Red Cross, but also got a 5-2 win over Campbell on it annual “Community Day on the Clay” at the Prestwick Tennis Center on Saturday, Feb. 6. The Chanticleer started the day by sweeping the doubles point. The Chanticleers took the No. 2, 3, 4 and 6 spots to clinch the win. Matt Gordon defeated Mondini 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the No. 2 spot, and Ernesto Ramos won over Wallaart 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 in the No. 3 spot. Alex Funkhouser continued his three match unbeaten streak by defeating Clavera 7-5, 6-3 in the No. 4 spot, and Peter Billingham defeated Baro 6-4, 6-1 to end the day. In singles the No. 1 spot of Plamen Tzvetkov lost to Lamzouri in a tough match 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, and in the No. 5 spot Dmitry Vlaskin fell to Kralik 2-6, 7-5, 7-5.
CHANTS OPEN SEASON 1-1
Coastal opened the season 1-1 the past week, with a loss at #59 UNC Wilmington, 6-1, and a win over The Citadel 4-3. Alex Funkhouser had a successful start as he earned wins against UNCW, 3-6, 6-3, 10-7 and The Citadel, 7-6, 6-1 in the number four spot. Matt Gordon and Peter Billingham also got their first wins as a Chanticleer. Gordon clinched the final point against The Citadel, winning against David Orces 6-2, 6-2.
CHANTS PICKED SECOND IN PRESEASON POLL
The Coastal Carolina University men’s tennis team was picked to finish second in the Big South Conference’s annual preseason poll by the league’s head coaches, annouced by the conference Tuesday, Jan. 12. The preseason pick is the highest under the helm of Head Coach Chris Powers. The defending Big South Conference champion Radford received three first-place votes and 42 out of a possible 49 points to repeat in 2010. Coastal was a close second, finishing with one first-place vote and 41 points. Winthrop was pick to finish third with 39 points, ahead of Liberty, which received 26 points. Gardner-Webb was picked fifth with 21 points, followed by UNC Asheville (17) and Presbyterian (10).
LEADING THE WAY
Senior Dmitry Vlaskin and junior Matt Gordon have been selected as the 2010 team captains. Vlaskin has been part of the Chanticleers for three years, while Gordon is the first transfer selected as captain.
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
Joining the 2009 Chanticleers are juniors Alex Funkhouser, Matt Gordon and Peter Billingham. Funkhouser was part of the Old Dominion team that finished the season 19-16 and 18-13 team in 2008 and 2009, respectively. Gordon was selected as All-Northeast First Team at Fairleigh Dickinson. Billingham was two-time All-American at Cowley.
NO FRESHMAN?
That’s right! The 2009 Coastal Carolina men’s tennis team has no freshmen listed on its roster. Three transfers, juniors Alex Funkhouser, Matt Gordon, and Peter Billingham, are all newcomers to the squad.
It's All Academic
Coastal Carolina received its 10th straight ITA All-Academic Team selection in 2009. In order to be considered for the award, teams must have a 3.2 GPA or higher. Senior German Perez, juniors Ernesto Ramos, Dmitry Vlaskin and Plamen Tzvetkov, and sophomore Dorian Sovic were named ITA Scholar-Athletes, which requires student-athletes to have at least a 3.5 GPA.
THE FALL IN A NUTSHELL
The Chanticleers completed fall play with a 52-32 record.
Coastal Carolina Double Day:
The Coastal Carolina men’s tennis team topped Francis Marion with a 5-2 win followed by a convincing 7-0 win at the Coastal Carolina Doubleheader Day. To begin the day, the Chanticleers secured the doubles point by sweeping the Patriots in all three slots. In singles, Chants Matt Gordon, Alex Funkhouser, Dmitry Vlaskin and Dorian Sovic all picked up wins.
UNC Invitational:
The Coastal Carolina men’s tennis doubles team of Dorian Sovic and Alex Funkhouser won the Flight B doubles title in the UNC Wilmington RBC Invitational today (Sept. 13). Sovic and Funkhouser defeated Virginia Tech’s Jonathan Pine and Zachary Pine, 8-6 in the championship match. Matt Gordon also had a successful tournament by finishing third in Flight D singles.
Southern Intercollegiate Championships:
The Coastal Carolina men’s tennis team competed at the Southern Intercollegiate Championships on September 18-20, hosted by Georgia. Due to the frequent rain, the tournament was cancelled for the last day of the matches.
ODU INVITATIONAL:
Ramos plowed through four rounds to win the flight A-2. In the final round, Ramos defeated Gokay Celik of Delaware, 6-3, 6-2.In the singles flight A-1, Matt Gordon and Alex Funkhouser made it to the finals. In the Men’s doubles A-flight, Tzvetkov/Vlaskin made it to the quarterfinals.
ITA REGIONAL: For the first time in school history, the men’s tennis team put two singles players and one doubles team through three rounds of the ITA Carolinas Regional on Oct. 15-17, taking place in Chapel Hill, N.C. In singles, Gordon and Funkhouser made it to the 16th round of the 128-player main draw. The doubles team of Gordon and Ramos made a run, losing right before the quarterfinals. Three other Chanticleers: Dorian Sovic, Dmitry Vlaskin and Plamen Tzvetkov, were all accepted into the main draw, but lost in the first round.
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