This Week

Feb. 22 - East Carolina, 1 p.m.

Feb. 26 - GARDNER-WEBB, 2 p.m.

Feb. 27 - STETSON, Noon

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: East Carolina (4-6) dropped a close one to College of Charleston 4-3 Feb. 19. Paulo Baumer won at number-one singles 6-2, 6-2 over Timo Siebert. ECU defeated Big South opponent High Point earlier this year 4-3.

Gardner-Webb (0-6) fell to Georgia State 6-0 in its last match. This is a make-up for a rainout on Jan. 29. Gardner-Webb will play Wofford and Davidson before facing the Chants.

Stetson (6-1) fell to 51st-ranked Miami 6-1 in its last contest. It was the Hatters’ first loss of the season. Stetson went 4-0 at the Lehigh Winter Invitational. Mario Alberto Cayo won the Hatters’ match against the Hurricanes.

HEAD COACH CHRIS POWERS: Chris Powers (Ferrum ’97) is in his first season as the head coach of the men’s team after serving four seasons as an assistant for both the Coastal men’s and women’s teams. He helped guide the 2001 women‘s squad to a Big South championship and an NCAA appearance. Powers coached two seasons at Virginia Tech, where he helped the Hokie women to back-to-back Atlantic 10 Conference championships.

MELLIS UNBEATEN STRING ENDS: Freshman David Mellis (London England/Goffs) rattled off five straight wins in singles play before falling to Jiri Beranek of Campbell Feb. 18. Mellis has won two three-set matches this season at the number-one singles spot. He joins Simon Taylor (Hampshire, England), Florentin Meynie (Nanterre, France) and Richard Redding (Winscombe, England) with five singles victories this season.

UP NEXT: Coastal opens the Big South Conference schedule Saturday, March 5, against Birmingham-Southern College at noon.