The Coastal Carolina University men’s tennis team concluded its fall schedule at the University of South Carolina Fall Invitiational Oct. 15-16 in Columbia, S.C.

The Chants were most impressive in the doubles bracket, as CCU had one team in the finals and one in the semifinals. Sophomores Ryan Vrba (Algonquin, Ill./Jacobs) and Andy Caress (Cincinnati, Ohio/Princeton) advanced to the finals of the B-2 doubles. They defeated Andrew Coney and Kim Ellis of Gardner-Webb 8-5 in the quarterfinals and Justin Malina and Alex Quillis of College of Charleston in the semis. The duo then lost to Adam Branks and Nicholas Thuell of UNC Asheville in the finals 9-7. Freshman David Mellis (London, England/Goffs) and sophomore Simon Taylor (Hampshire, England/Queen Mary’s College) advanced to the semifinals of the A-B bracket. They defeated Nicolas Legrass and Nick Tzekos of Lander in the first round and then had a walkover against WIll Plyler and David Stone of North Carolina. Mellis and Taylor then lost to Lasha Janashia and Charles-Henri Trottet of Georgia Southern 9-8 (5).

In the singles, Taylor advanced to the consolation quarterfinals of the A-1 bracket, defeating Jason Mok of Rice 0-6, 6-3, 10-4. Caress beat Jeff Muthig of Wofford 6-2, 6-0 in the B-2 singles, but fell to Malina 6-1, 4-6, 6-2. At B-3 singles, freshman Ryan Weisband (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) beat Armstrong Atlantic’s Ross Hopper in the round of 16 6-0, 6-1, but then fell to Francis Marion’s Roshun Razik, 6-3, 6-3. Sophomore Richard Redding (Winscombe, England/Queen Elizabeth’s Hospital) beat Joel Cheaney of Davidson 7-5, 6-0 in the A-B singles, but then fell to Dragan Bisercic 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals.

The men end the fall with a combined 42-39 record.

"Overall we had a solid fall," Coastal men’s tennis head coach Chris Powers said. "I was most impressed with our team spirit in the fall tournaments. The guys worked hard and achieved an overall winning record for the fall season. However, none of this means anything if we can't all come together as a team during the dual matches in the spring. I like our chances better now than in August, but we are still young and need to improve in a lot of areas."