CCU

Women's Tennis Has Busy Five Matches This Week

           

Women's Tennis Has Busy Five Matches This Week

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UPCOMING MATCHES: The Lady Chanticleers travel to High Point Feb. 22 for a 2 p.m. match. CCU will then host East Carolina Feb. 24 at 2 p.m. Western Carolina and Mount Olive will play at CCU you Saturday, Feb. 25 at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. respectivley. Finally, the Lady Chants will host Appalachian State Sunday, Feb. 26 at 12 p.m.

SERIES WITH HIGH POINT: The Lady Chanticleers have defeated High Point the past three seasons including a 4-1 win in the Big South tournament in 2003. The Panthers are 1-1 for the current season.

SERIES WITH EAST CAROLINA: CCU fell to East Carolina last season, 5-2. The Pirates are 8-3 for the season. ECU fell to North Carolina State, Feb. 11, 6-1.

SERIES WITH WESTERN CAROLINA: Coastal has defeated Western Carolina the past three seasons. The Catamounts are 0-3 for the 2006 season including a 6-1 loss to Gardner-Webb Feb. 16.

SERIES WITH MOUNT OLIVE: The Lady Chants lead the series with Mount Olive 1-0. During the 2005 season, CCU defeated the Trojans, 9-0. Mount Olive is currently 1-1 for the 2006 season including a 6-1 loss to East Carolina Feb. 16.

SERIES WITH APPALACHIAN STATE: The last time CCU faced Appalachian State was during the 2005 season. The Lady Chants defeated the Mountaineers, 7-0. Appalachian State is 4-0 for the current season after defeating Gardner-Webb, 5-2, Feb. 19.

OFF TO A GREAT START: The Lady Chants are 5-0 for the season, which is the best starting record they have had in three years. Senior Petra Jantti and sophomore Amy Pazahanick lead CCU with five straight singles wins apiece.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: Petra Jantti and Amy Pazahanick are 4-0 in doubles matches for the current season. Hayley Rudman and Virginie Dinh are also 4-0 in doubles for the Lady Chants.

CLIMBING TO THE TOP: With five singles wins already in this season, senior Petra Jantti has a career total of 59 singles wins, which puts here in the fifth spot on CCU's all-time records. Jantti also holds the sixth place in doubles victories with 63.

COASTAL PICKED SECOND IN BIG SOUTH POLL: Coastal Carolina’s women’s tennis team received 107 points, including three first-place votes, to grab the second spot in the Big South Conference’s annual preseason poll, the conference office announced Thursday, Jan. 19. Winthrop finished first with 13 first-place votes and a total of 125 points. The Lady Chanticleers are coming off a season where they finished 17-6 overall, including 6-1 in the Big South Conference, and advanced to the Big South Tournament Finals. The 2006 squad returns six letterwinners including senior Petra Jantti and adds two transfers, junior Hayley Rudman from Mississippi State and sophomore Amy Pazahanick from Georgia Southern. The 2006 Big South Women’s Tennis Preseason Poll is voted upon by the conference’s head coaches and sports information directors.

2006 PREVIEW: After another second place finish in the Big South, the Coastal Carolina women’s tennis team looks for more in 2006. With the graduation of Marie Matrka, last year’s Big South Conference Player of the Year, the 2006 edition of the Lady Chanticleers will have large shoes to fill. The positive side is that there are six players returning from last year’s 18-5 squad. The runner-up finish in the conference tournament should provide plenty of motivation for this 2005-06 squad.

"Our lineup this spring could have many faces in different places," Coastal head coach Jody Davis said. "We will be looking at many different combinations early in the spring, and hopefully by April, our lineup will be solid with great depth."

Seniors Virginie Dinh and Petra Jantti should play near the top of the lineup. Both of these seniors will be relied on to use their match previous match experience to help lead the team during the spring. The other lone senior, Rosemary Younger, will provide valuable help in the doubles lineup and will play in some singles matches as well.

"Both Virginie and Petra made all-conference last year," Davis said. "If they can repeat that performance again this year, it will make us a much stronger team."

Juniors Sarize Coetzee and Nicole Lemmerer will use their experience to help the Lady Chants fight for the Conference title. Sophomore Sofie Ahlberg was voted the Big South Rookie of the Year last year, playing mainly at the fourth position in the lineup. This year, she could move up and be another key to Coastal’s success.

"Sarize will play a very important role on our team this year in that we are counting on our positions 3-6 to bring home many wins in these upcoming dual matches," Davis commented. "Nicole has improved all fall and I really expect her to continue this through the spring season.

"Sofie had a great fall and really produced some quality wins," Davis continued. "We are really looking for some big things out of her this spring."

Two transfers will add even more depth to the roster. Junior Hayley Rudman, a transfer from Mississippi State, will play in the middle to top half of the lineup and her experience of playing in the Southeastern Conference should bring more toughness to this team for the spring. Sophomore Amy Pazahanick played last season at Georgia Southern and could be a significant force this fall.

"This is by far the deepest team I have ever coached," Davis concluded. "Hopefully, we can peak at the right time and bring home the Big South Conference championship."

The Lady Chants open at Billy Nichols Center Feb. 4 with matches against Savannah State and Newberry. CCU will host 17 home matches during the season. Not only will Coastal battle in the highly-competitive Big South, they will also face other solid programs such as Memphis, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), Binghamton, Bucknell, Appalachian State, and East Carolina.