CCU

Men's Tennis Finishes 20-11 at University of South Carolina Fall Invitational

       

Men's Tennis Finishes 20-11 at University of South Carolina Fall Invitational

Finishes Fall Season with a 62-37 Record Heading into Regional Play

COLUMBIA, S.C.- The Coastal Carolina Men's Tennis team finished 20-11 this past weekend at the University of South Carolina Fall Invitational.  Sophomore Joseph Withers (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap (Liberty)) was the Flight B4 Singles Champion.  Withers defeated Wofford's Jason McElveen 6-2, 6-3 and Jacksonville State's Gonzalo Olmedo 6-2, 6-2 before defeating fellow teammate, Plamen Tzvetkov (Herts, United Kingdom/Stanborough).  Tzvetkov, the B4 Singles Runner-up defeated Arkansas' Branden Burks 6-2, 6-2, Winthrop's Tobias Handschin 6-1, 6-1 and South Carolina State's Dimitry Lomakin 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 before falling to Withers. 

Senior Andy Caress (Cincinnati, Ohio/Princeton) dropped his first match in the B4 Singles bracket to South Carolina State's Dimitry Lomakin putting him in the B4 Consolation bracket.  Caress went on to defeat Branden Burks of Arkansas 6-4, 6-3 and Jason McElveen of Wofford 6-2, 6-0 to win the B4 Consolation Champion title. 

In Men's A1 Singles, Coastal's Simon Taylor (Hampshire, England/Queen Mary's College) was defeated by Armstrong Atlantic's Paul Bishop 6-4, 6-3 putting him in the A1 Singles Consolation bracket.  Taylor then went on to defeat Temple's Nathan Spunda by forfeit due to a Spunda injury and Winthrop's Alejandro Portugal 6-4, 6-0.  Taylor was then defeated by David Budler of Francis Marion for the second time this season, 4-6, 6-3, (10-3). 

In A2 Singles, CCU's David Mellis (London, England/Goffs) defeated Limestone's Christopher Ross Da Silva 6-4, 6-2 before falling to first seeded Diego Toledo of South Florida 7-6 (3), 6-3.  

Elliott Quibell (Derby, England/Cheam (Colorado)) competed in his first singles tournament of the season due to a shoulder injury.  Quibell came out hard defeating Temple's Gonzolo Devilla 6-1, 6-1 before falling to South Carolina's third seeded David Wolff 6-3, 6-2 in B1 Singles.

In the B2 Singles bracket, Richard Redding (Winscombe, England/Queen Elizabeth's Hospital) was sent to the consolation bracket after falling to North Carolina State's fourth seeded Frideric Prandecki 6-1, 6-2.  Redding defeated Nichoas McAlister from Erskine 6-1, 6-3 before dropping the quarterfinal round to Wofford's Richard Cahi 6-7, 6-4, 1-0 (8).  

In doubles action, team Mellis and Quibell were the flight A2 Doubles runner-up.  They defeated South Florida's second seeded Daniel Daudt and Diego Toledo 8-5 then beat Barton's Nikola Andjelic and Matt Jackman 8-5.  In the semi-final round, Mellis and Quibell defeated Samford's Hank Grant and Stewart Miser, 8-6. Citadel's Danny Dossetor and James Eason won the final round 8-3.  

In B1 Doubles, Caress and Taylor defeated South Carolina's Thomas Stoddard and David Wolff 8-6 before falling to fourth-seeded College of Charleston's Perry Allen and Justin Malina 8-6.  

The team of Redding and Withers lost their first match in B2 Doubles to Auburn-Montgomery's third seed, Niola Miskovic and Victor Sanakipapi 8-3.

Coastal finishes its fall season with a 62-37 match recording heading into this week's ITA Regional at the University of North Carolina.  The men head to Chapel Hill, N.C. on Wednesday to start play. 

"I'm very happy with the program's performance this weekend," Head Coach Chris Powers commented.  "No one came away without some success on the court for the tournament.  Our team chemistry is excellent and I believe that team building will keep us going forward into the regionals and spring season."