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Women's Tennis Heads To Birmingham For Big South Conference Tournament

       

Women's Tennis Heads To Birmingham For Big South Conference Tournament

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UPCOMING MATCHES: The Lady Chanticleers will travel to Birmingham, Ala. for the 2006 Big South Conference tournament. The tournament begins Thursday April 13 and will continue until Saturday April 15. CCU is playing the second seed in the tournament, and will face seventh-seed Radford, in the first round.

SERIES WITH RADFORD: The Lady Chanticleers are 7-0 against Radford in the last three seasons. Including a 7-0 victory, Sunday April 2. The Highlanders finished out the regular season in seventh with a 7-13 (1-6) record.

CLIMBING TO THE TOP: Senior Petra Jantti has 77 career singles wins, holding the fourth spot on CCU's all-time list. Virginie Dinh has 55 total singles wins, tied for eighth on CCU's all-time list.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: Petra Jantti is now third on CCU's all-time list with 91 wins, one win behind Marie Matrka. Virginie Dinh has recorded 64 doubles wins, tied for fifth on CCU's all-time with Lara Lendenmann.

PERFECT SINGLES SEASON: Amy Pazahanick finished the regular season with a 21-1 record, 6-0 in Big South Conference play. Pazahanick is the only 2006 Lady Chanticleer to have a perfect Big South singles record. Pazahanick finished the regular doubles season with a 19-2 overall and a 6-1 Big South record.

BEATING THE BUCCANEERS: Coastal Carolina’s women’s tennis team (20-2, 6-0) defeated Big South rival Charleston Southern (5-14, 3-3), 6-1, in Charleston, to record its sixth league win, Wednesday, April 5.

CCU swept the doubles, marking its sixth straight doubles win in conference. The doubles were highlighted by an 8-0 victory for Sarize Coetzee and Sofie Ahlberg in the third seed. Senior Virginie Dinh and Hayley Rudman brought in an 8-5 victory while Petra Jantti and Amy Pazahanick defeated Nazli Kutuk and Jessica Blair in the number two seed, 8-2.

Pazahanick won her 20th singles match of the season with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Blair. Rudman defeated Rebecca Franzi in the second seed, 6-4, 7-6(3). Junior Nicole Lemmerer, Ahlberg, and Coetzee also brought in singles wins for the Lady Chanticleers.

FALLING TO WINTHROP: Coastal Carolina’s women’s tennis (20-3, 6-1) fell to Big South Conference rival Winthrop, 6-1, (12-9, 6-0) Friday, April 7 in Rock Hill, S.C. It was the regular season finale for the Lady Chanticleers.

The Eagles won two out of the three doubles matches as Petra Jantti and Amy Pazahanick got the only Coastal victory, defeating Patricia Coimbra and Yolanda Araujo 8-3 in No. 2 doubles. Virginie Dinh and Hayley Rudman fell at No. 1 doubles, 8-5, while Sarize Coetzee and Sofie Ahlberg fell in the No. 3doubles, 8-5.

Pazahanick was the lone Coastal singles victor, posting her 21st singles win on the year with a thrilling 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 victory over Paula Takahashi at No. 4. Coetzee fell to Larisa Bekmetova in a grueling 6-1, 1-6, 0-6 defeat in the No. 5 singles slot.

"We were out played by Winthrop today," head coach Jody Davis said. "Hopefully we’ll get another chance at the conference tournament."

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.