CCU

Men's Tennis Plays Two Matches This Week

       

Men's Tennis Plays Two Matches This Week

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This Week’s Matches:
Opponent: No. 2 Ohio State
Date: Wednesday, March 19
Location: Billy Nichols Tennis Center (Conway, S.C.)
Time: 9:30 a.m.

Opponent: Charleston Southern
Date: Thursday, March 20
Location: CSU Tennis Courts (North Charleston, S.C.)
Time: 2 p.m.

HOME AND AWAY: Coastal Carolina will play one home and one match this week. The Chanticleers welcome No. 2 Ohio State to the Billy Nichols Tennis Center Wednesday, March 19. The team then makes the quick trip to Charleston Southern Thursday, March 20.

BACK AT THE BILLY NICHOLS TENNIS CENTER: The Chants make their return to the Billy Nichols Tennis Center with their match versus Ohio State, marking the second time this season CCU has played on its home courts. Maintenance work was recently done on the courts at the Billy Nichols Tennis Center. CCU’s last match at the Billy Nichols Tennis Center was a 5-2 loss to then-No. 71 Tennessee Tech February 15.

SCOUTING OHIO STATE: The Buckeyes are coming off a 4-2 win over No. 26 Louisiana State Sunday March 16... Has a 15-1 record with its only loss being to No. 1 Virginia Feb. 18... Played 12 ranked teams so far this season... Will also play The Citadel in Myrtle Beach Wednesday, March 19... Has four nationally-ranked singles players (No. 19 Justin Kronauge, No. 24 Bryan Koniecko, No. 29 Steven Moneke and No. 111 Drew Eberly) and two nationally-ranked doubles team (No. 5 Eberly/Kronauge and No. 25 Matt Allare/Mike O’Connell) according to the Intercollegeiate Tennis Association poll that was released Tuesday, March 18.

SCOUTING CHARLESTON SOUTHERN: The Buccaneers come off a 4-3 win over Jacksonville State Monday, March 17... Holds a 1-2 Big South record with a win over Liberty and losses to Radford and High Point... The doubles tandem of Guy David and Grega Teraz have won their last seven matches, all of which have been in the No. 1 slot.

SCHEDULE CHANGES: Coastal Carolina had a pair of adjustments made to its schedule. The Chants match against Davidson, originally scheduled for March 6, has been moved to Tuesday, March 25 at Davidson. Meanwhile, CCU’s match against future Big South opponent Presbyterian has been pushed back one day from Monday, April 14 to Tuesday, April 15.
 
IT'S A SWEEP: The Chants earned their seventh win of the season with a 7-0 sweep of Boston University Thursday, March 13. Of Coastal’s seven wins, five have been sweeps, with the Chants also blanking Mount Olive, Queens University of Charlotte, Winston-Salem State and Richmond during the 2008 season.

WINS ACROSS THE BOARD: In Coastal’s 7-0 sweep of the Terriers March 13, the Chants won all three doubles and all six singles matches, a feat accomplish just two other times this season.

RAMOS WINS THREE STRAIGHT: Sophomore Ernesto Ramos has won his last three singles matches, posting wins in the No. 2 slot against Richmond, East Carolina and Boston University. He was the only Chant to go a perfect 2-0 in singles competition Feb. 29-March 1 and then pushed his streak to three with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Boston University’s Jeff Chudacoff.

ROAD TRIP!: CCU split its two road matches Feb. 29 and March 1, sweeping Richmond 7-0 and falling at East Carolina 6-1. Coastal’s win over Richmond marked CCU’s first sweep since blanking Winston-Salem State Feb. 9 as well as the team’s first road win of the 2008 season.

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 Feb. 23-24. 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 9-3 on the season, including a 6-3 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 6-4 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 Queens University 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.

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.