NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Coastal Carolina men's tennis team (11-6, Big South 4-2)) dropped a tough conference match to Charleston Southern (11-6, Big South 5-1) 4-3 on Thursday, March 30 in North Charleston, S.C.
The number one singles match saw sophomore David Mellis (London, England/Goffs) defeat junior Quentin Guichard 6-4, 6-3 while junior Elliott Quibell (Derby, England/Cheam (Colorado)) defeated junior Jonathan Dean in the second singles match 6-3, 6-4.
Junior Simon Taylor (Hampshire, England/Queen's Mary College) won the third singles match over junior Lee Schutte 6-3, 6-3.
The fourth singles match was where the tide began to turn, as Coastal's junior Andy Caress (Cincinnati, Ohio/Princeton) fell to sophomore Steven Dean 6-1, 6-1.
Junior Richard Redding (Winscombe, England/Queen Elizabeth's Hospital) was then downed by freshman Chris Peek 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the fifth singles match while senior Brian Dowis (Yorktown, Va./Yorktown) lost the sixth and final singles match to sophomore Murat Atilla 6-2, 6-4.
The Chanticleers lost the doubles point by losing to all three matches to the CSU doubles teams.
At the first seed, the Chants Quibell/Redding were defeated by Schutte/Guichard 8-6. In the second doubles seeding, Caress/Taylor were downed by Jonathan Dean/Babar Akbar, 8-5. The third doubles seed was dropped by the CCU doubles team of Dowis/Mellis to David/Steven Dean 8-5.
"It was a very hard fought match," head coach Chris Powers stated. "This was Big South tennis at its very best. We now have to get ready for Mercer on Sunday, with Winthrop on the horizon next week."
The Chants host non-conference opponent Mercer on April 2 at 9 a.m. ET.
Charleston Southern 4, Coastal Carolina 3
Singles Matches
1. David Mellis (CCU) def. Quentin Guichard (CSU) 6-4, 6-3
2. Elliott Quibell (CCU) def. Joanthan Dean (CSU) 6-3, 6-4
3. Simon Taylor (CCU) def. Lee Schutte (CSU) 6-3, 6-3
4. Steven Dean (CSU) def. Andy Caress (CCU) 6-1, 6-1
5. Chris Peek (CSU) def. Richard Redding (CCU) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
6. Murat Atilla (CSU) def. Brian Dowis (CCU) 6-2, 6-4
Doubles Matches
1. Guichard/Schutte (CSU) def. Quibell/Redding (CCU) 8-6
2. Jonathan Dean/Babar Akbar (CSU) def. Caress/Taylor (CCU) 8-5
3. David/Steven Dean (CSU) def. Dowis/Mellis (CCU) 8-5
