The Coastal Carolina University men’s tennis team had a semifinalist in Flight A and went 6-1 in Flight B at the UNC Wilmington Fall Invitational Tennis Tournament Oct. 1-2 in Wilmington, N.C.

Sophomore Simon Taylor (Hampshire, England/Queen Mary’s College) advanced to the semis in Flight A after defeating Rahul Rajkhewa of UNC Wilmington 6-1, 6-3 and Paul Ambrose of UNC Asheville 6-3, 1-6, (14-12). Taylor fell to Caio Piacentini of UNCW 6-2, 6-1. Freshman David Mellis (London, England/Goffs) lost in his first match in Flight A, but defeated Carl Hocker of The Citadel 6-2, 6-2 and David Lara of The Citadel 6-0, 6-4 in the consolation round. Sophomore Richard Redding (Winscombe, England/Queen Elizabeth’s Hospital) defeated Nicholas Thuell of UNC Asheville 6-4, 6-4 in the consolations, while sophomore Ryan Vrba (Algonquin, Ill./Jacobs) beat Hocker 9-8 in the second round consolation.

In Flight B, junior Brian Dowis (Yorktown, Va./York) Aaron Rassell of UNC Wilmington 7-6, 6-2 and Nicholas Medica of The Citadel 6-2, 6-1. Sophomore Andy Caress (Cincinnati, Ohio/Pirnceton) beat Bern Kotwall of UNC Wilmington 6-0, 6-0 and Russell 6-3, 6-0. Freshman Ryan Weisband (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) beat Kotwall 6-4, 6-0.

In the doubles, Mellis and Redding advanced to the semifinals after defeating Holland and Rassell of UNCW 8-2, but fell to Julien Vulliez and Paul Ambrose of UNC Asheville 8-3.

For the week, Coastal went 18-12 and have a 32-25 records for the fall.

"Our real bright spots this weekend came in the B Flight where we went 8-1," Coastal head men’s tennis coach Chris Powers said. "Also, Simon Taylor had another excellent tournament and David Mellis continues to develop. Everyone fought hard and that’s a good sign for a fall tournament. However, we still have a lot of work to do if we plan to be in the middle of things in the Big South this spring."

Coastal will travel to Columbia, S.C., to compete in the University of South Carolina Fall Invitational Oct. 15-17.