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Men's Tennis Wins Seventh-Straight For Best Start In Program History; Defeats Gardner-Webb 6-1

       

Men's Tennis Wins Seventh-Straight For Best Start In Program History; Defeats Gardner-Webb 6-1

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CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina University men's tennis team is off to the best start in program history, opening Big South action with a 6-1 victory over Gardner-Webb Sunday, Feb. 15 at the Billy Nichols Tennis Center. The Chanticleers remain undefeated at 7-0 and move to 1-0 in Big South play, while Gardner-Webb drops to 1-6 overall and 0-1 in league play.

 

Coastal Carolina won six-straight matches to open the 2007 season, but bypassed that mark this season recording its seventh win today.

 

The Chants had not lost a doubles point all season and continued to demonstrate their strength, claiming the point in the first two matches. Senior German Perez (Valencia, Spain/Collegio Helios (UALR) and junior Ernesto Ramos (Tampico, Mexico/Instituto Andes (Jacksonville)) finished first at No. 1 with an 8-3 victory over Gardner-Webb's Evgeny Slesarev and Jamie Lawlor. Shortly after, juniors Plamen Tzvetkov (Herts, United Kingdom/Stanborough) and Dmitry Vlaskin (Moscow, Russia/MoscowArkansas)) earned an 8-5 advantage over Rafeal Altmayer and Carlos Quijano. With the doubles point in hand, senior Joseph Withers (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap (Liberty)) and sophomore John Hairston (Myrtle Beach, S.C./Myrtle Beach) dropped an 8-4 decision to the Bulldogs' No. 3 tandem of Ryan Bernthal and Miguel Pinzon.

 

"Gardner-Webb came ready to play," Head Coach Chris Powers continued. "I thought we lacked consistent intensity at places on the doubles court."

 

Withers put the first singles match to rest with a quick 6-0, 6-0 win over Bernthal at No. 6. Playing some lengthy rallies, Ramos picked up Coastal Carolina's third point of the day with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Veeder at the No. 2 slot. Tzvetkov clinched the match for the Chants at the No. 4 spot capturing a 6-1, 6-3 win over Quijano, while Vlaskin and Sovic dealt their opponents straight set losses as well. Gardner-Webb's lone singles victory of the day came at the No. 1 position where Slesarev earned a 6-4, 7-5 win over Perez. 

 

"We did a really good job in singles and looked more like the team we need to be to reach our goals this spring," Powers commented.

 

Coastal Carolina resumes play Friday, Feb. 20 when it hosts The Citadel at the Billy Nichols Tennis Center. First serve is set for 1 p.m.