MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -- Coastal Carolina's men's tennis team lost its Big South Conference opener to defending league champion Radford 6-1 Sunday, Feb. 17 at the City of Myrtle Beach Tennis Center.

Senior David Mellis (London, England/Goffs) and sophomore Dmitry Vlaskin (Moscow, Russia/Moscow 1201) had the Chanticleers' (4-5, 0-1 Big South) only win in doubles competition. Mellis and Vlaskin topped Mehdi Benhammou and Ivan Salec 9-7 at No. 2 doubles, but Radford (3-0, 2-0 Big South) won at the No. 1 and No. 3 slots in order to win doubles point. Martin Sayer and Zack Watson defeated sophomores Ernesto Ramos (Tampico, Mexico/Instituto Andes (Jacksonville) and Plamen Tzvetkov (Herts, United Kingdom/Stanborough) 9-8 at No. 1 doubles. Paul Boslet and James Lloyd had an 8-3 win over freshman John Hairston (Myrtle Beach, S.C./Myrtle Beach) and junior Joseph Withers (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap (Liberty)) at No. 3 doubles.

Mellis was the only Chant to register a singles victory. He beat Lloyd 7-5, 6-2 in the No. 3 slot. Nationally-ranked Sayer defeated Ramos 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 singles, while Salec topped Vlaskin 6-3, 6-4 at No. 2. Benhammou defeated Withers 6-4, 7-5 in the No. 4 slot and Watson won 6-4, 6-4 over freshman Carlo Checchia (Brasilia, Brazil/Galois) at No. 5 singles. Boslet defeated freshman Omar El Bouskouri (Meknes, Morocco/Schiller) 6-3, 6-4 at No. 6 singles.

Coastal Carolina returns to action Saturday, Feb. 23 with a match against Gardner-Webb. Match time is scheduled for 11 a.m. at the City of Myrtle Beach Tennis Center.