CCU

Men's Tennis Returns to the Road for Two Matches

       

Men's Tennis Returns to the Road for Two Matches

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This Week’s Matches:
Opponent: Richmond
Date: Friday, Feb. 29
Location: Westhampton Tennis Complex (Richmond, Va.)
Time: 1:30 p.m.

Opponent: East Carolina
Date: Saturday, March 1
Location: ECU Tennis Complex (Greenville, N.C.)
Time: 2 p.m.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Coastal Carolina hits the road for a pair of matches this weekend. The Chanticleers venture to Richmond Friday, Feb. 29 and then head to East Carolina Saturday, March 1.

SCOUTING RICHMOND: The Spiders have yet to win a match this season, owning an 0-6 record... Richmond begins the week with a match against James Madison Thursday, Feb. 28 at the Westhampton Tennis Complex... Richmond is coming off a 5-2 loss to Hampton in which the Spiders won at No. 5 and No. 6 singles... The Spiders have faced one Big South team already this season, falling 4-3 to Liberty Feb. 2... 

SCOUTING EAST CAROLINA: The Pirates (6-6) return home for the first time in four matches, including three at Southern Miss... During the trip to Mississippi, East Carolina lost to both University of Alabama-Birmingham and Southern Miss 4-3... However, the Pirates concluded the trip wtih a 4-3 victory over UCF... East Carolina plays Big South opponents in back-to-back matches, beginning with Coastal March 1 and then UNC Asheville March 5... Henrique Viana has the Pirates’ top singles record with an 9-3 mark... Viana and Jaroslave Horvath hold a 7-1 mark at No. 1 doubles.

CHANTS GO 1-1 LAST WEEK: CCU split its matches Feb. 23 and 24, falling to Gardner-Webb 4-3 and defeating Liberty 6-1. The Chants’ win over the Flames ended a six-match losing skid.

A 2-0 WEEK FOR MELLIS AND TZVETKOV: Senior David Mellis and sophomore Plamen Tzvetkov posted 2-0 singles records last week. Mellis topped Gardner-Webb’s Fafael Altmayer 6-0, 6-1 Feb. 23 in the No. 3 slot and then downed Liberty’s Chad Simpson 6-1, 7-6 Feb. 24 at No. 2 singles. Meanwhile, Tzvetkov scored both of his wins in the No. 4 slot, posting a 6-1, 6-1 win over Gardner-Webb’s Carlos Quijano and then beating Liberty’s Rafael Riso 6-1, 6-2.

ANOTHER TWO FOR WITHERS AND HAIRSTON: Junior Joseph Withers and freshman John Hairston notched two more No. 3 doubles victories with wins over Gardner-Webb and Liberty. The duo is now 7-2 on the season, including a 4.2 mark in the No. 3 slot.

A FAMILIAR TEAM: Junior Joseph Withers improved to 2-0 in both singles and doubles competition against his former team, Liberty. The Peoria, Ill., native went to Liberty for one year prior to attending Coastal.

CCU HAS TOUGH WEEK: Coastal went 0-4 in its busiest week of the season as the Chants played four matches in six days Feb. 12-17, including one against No. 71 Tennessee Tech.
 
MELLIS AND VLAKSIN PICK UP FOUR DOUBLES WINS: Although Coastal was winless Feb. 12-17, senior David Mellis and sophomore Dmitry Vlaskin went 4-0 at No. 2 doubles on the week. The pair has a 5-2 mark in the No. 2 slot for the season.

CCU NETS TWO SWEEPS: Both of Coastal Carolina’s wins from Feb. 5-9 were 7-0 sweeps. The Chants beat Campbell Tuesday, Feb. 5 at Prestwick Country Club and then cruised past Winston-Salem State Saturday, Feb. 9. CCU has swept its opponents in three of its five wins so far this season.

VLASKIN WINS FIVE: Sophomore Dmitry Vlaskin racked up five victories Feb. 5-9. The Moscow, Russia native won all three singles matches he played and had two doubles wins. On the season, Vlaskin is perfect 6-1 in the No. 2 singles slot.

CHANTS OFF TO A WINNING START: Coastal Carolina won both of its matches against Mount Olive at Community Day on the Clay Saturday, Feb. 2. The Chants swept the Trojans 7-0 in the first match and then won the second 6-1.

GIMME TWO: After the two matches against Mount Olive, four Chants started 2-0 in singles play this season. Junior Joseph Withers, sophomores Ernesto Ramos and Dmitry Vlaskin and freshman Carlo Checchia won both of their singles matches against Mount Olive. Additionally, Withers and freshman John Hairston were 2-0 in doubles play. The pair notched wins at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles on Saturday.

SUPER SWEEP: With a 7-0 win in its season-opener, Coastal Carolina has now opened the season with a sweep for the second consecutive season. Dating back to 1999, the Chants have won five season-openers, three of which were sweeps.

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 was at Prestwick County Club in Myrtle Beach. Five other matches were at the City of Myrtle Beach Tennis Center, while currently two matches will be played at Kingston Plantation.

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. 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 Bouzkouri 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 two upperclassmen, most of CCU’s 2008 tennis roster is made up of underclassmen. The team has one senior (David Mellis), one junior (Joseph Withers), three sophomores (Ernesto Ramos, Plamen Tzvetkov and Dmitry Vlaskin) and three freshmen (Carlo Checchia, Omar El Bouzkouri 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: Coastal’s roster features two transfer students, 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.