Women's Tennis Hosts Three Matches This Week
3/20/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
More Information:
UPCOMING MATCHES: The Lady Chanticleers will host UNC Wilmington, Wednesday, March 22 at 2 p.m. CCU will then host Memphis, Saturday, March 25 at 10 a.m. The Lady Chants continue Big South Conference play as they host Birmingham-Southern Sunday, March 26 at 1 p.m.
SERIES WITH UNC WILMINGTON: CCU leads the series with Wilmington 3-0, defeating the Seahawks the past three years. Wilmington is currently 12-1 for the season.
SERIES WITH MEMPHIS: Memphis leads the series with Coastal, 1-0. The Tigers defeated the Lady Chanticleers in 2004 and are currently 3-6 for the season.
SERIES WITH BIRMINGHAM-SOUTHERN:The Lady Chanticleers have defeated the Panthers the past two seasons, including a 7-0 victory last season. Birmingham-Southern is currently 6-5, 1-2 Big South play.
CLIMBING TO THE TOP: Senior Petra Jantti has 74 career singles wins holding the fourth spot on CCU's all-time list. Virginie Dinh has 53 total singles wins, placing 10th on CCU's all-time list, one win behind Melissa Mason.
DOUBLE TROUBLE: Petra Jantti and Amy Pazahanick have won all 14 doubles matches for the season. Jantti is now third on CCU's all time with 84 wins, eight wins behind Marie Matrka. Virginie Dinh holds the sixth spot with 57 doubles wins.
15-LOVE: Sophomore Amy Pazahanick has recorded 15 straight singles wins for the current season.
BATTLING BINGHAMTON: No. 75 Coastal Carolina’s women’s tennis team continued their perfect start to the season, running its record to 14-0 with a 6-1 win over visiting Binghamton, Wednesday, March 15.
The Lady Chanticleers swept the doubles matches, highlighted by an 8-3 win by Sofie Ahlberg and Sarize Coetzee. Virginie Dinh and Hayley Rudman brought in an 8-6 win, while Petra Jantti and Amy Pazahanick won their 13th doubles match of the season.
Dinh won at No. 1 singles, 6-2, 6-1 over Zeynep Altinay, who was ranked among the top 100 nationally last season. Pazahanick posted her 14th singles win, while Rudman, Ahlberg, and Nicole Lemmerer also had straight-sets singles wins for the Lady Chants.
BLOWING OUT BUCKNELL: Coastal Carolina’s women’s tennis team improved their record to 15-0 after a 7–0 home victory over Bucknell Friday, March 17.
CCU swept the doubles matches with an 8-4 win by Virginie Dinh and Hayley Rudman. Petra Jantti and Amy Pazahanick recorded their 14th doubles win of the season, while Sarize Coetzee and Sofie Ahlberg added an 8-4 victory.
Pazahanick remained perfect at No. 4 singles, winning her 15th in a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Bucknell’s Ashley Globerman. Coetzee swept Caitlin Baffa, 6-0, 6-0, while Rudman, Jantti, Ahlberg, and Nicole Lemmerer also had straight-sets victories for the Lady Chanticleers.
FIRST LOSS TO CHARLOTTE: Coastal Carolina’s women’s tennis team battled on the road but eventually lost its first match of the season to host Charlotte, 4-3, Saturday, March 18. With the loss, the Lady Chanticleers fell to 15-1 while the 49ers advanced to 6-3, having won six of their last seven matches.
The Lady Chanticleers swept the doubles competition highlighted by senior Petra Jantti and sophomore Amy Pazahanick’s 8-3 victory. Senior Virginie Dinh and junior Hayley Rudman brought in a win, as did sophomore Sofie Ahlberg and junior Sarize Coetzee. Pazahanick recorded her 15th singles match of the season, while Coetzee had the only other singles win for the Lady Chants.
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 Davissaid. "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.
