The Coastal Carolina men’s tennis team (5-4) starts the Big South Conference schedule Saturday, March 5, when the Chanticleers travel to Birmingham, Ala., to face Birmingham-Southern. The match will start at Noon Central time.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: Birmingham-Southern (4-3, 1-0 Big South) has already started its Big South schedule with a 5-2 win over Radford Feb. 26. In its last match, the Panthers defeated Jacksonville State 4-3 March 1. Eric Baumgardner won at number-one singles 6-3, 7-5 over the Gamecocks’ Vedran Sirola.

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.

COASTAL EXCELLING IN SINGLES: Coastal Carolina has a combined singles record of 32-19 this season. Freshman David Mellis (London, England), and sophomores Richard Redding (Winscombe, England) and Simon Taylor (Hampshire, England) have six wins apiece for the Chants. On the other side, Coastal only has a 7-20 doubles record after nine matches.

UP NEXT: Coastal will face James Madison University Monday, March 7, at 2 p.m., at the Billy Nichols Tennis Center.