Jan. 29, 2011
CONWAY, S.C. - The Coastal Carolina men's tennis team opened the 2011 season with a 5-2 win over The Citadel Saturday afternoon from the Billy Nichols Tennis Center.
Coastal Carolina took an early 1-0 lead after winning all three doubles matches and claiming the doubles point. Senior Alex Funkhouser and junior Danny Heidecker downed Jeremiah Dye and Elliot Sperr 8-1 at No. 2 before senior Dorian Sovic and sophomore Yusuke Kusuda won their match at the No. 3 position with an 8-4 victory over James Atkinson and Dillion Berkabile to clinch the point for the Chants.
Seniors Matt Gordon and Peter Billingham posted an 8-5 victory over David Orces and Joshua Cook at No. 1 to complete the doubles sweep.
Freshman Leo Christofides put Coastal ahead 2-0 following his 6-1, 6-3 win over Dye at No. 6 singles, while Sovic turned in a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Sperr at the No. 5 position to up the Chant lead to 3-0.
Kusuda gave Coastal its fourth point of the match and the overall victory by claiming a 6-0, 6-2 win over Cook at No. 3. Heidecker picked up a singles win at No. 1 following a 6-2, 7-6 victory over Orces.
"The Citadel is always a tough team to play," Coastal Carolina head coach Chris Powers said. "They have a lot of intensity and I thought we stepped up when we needed to. Hopefully we built some momentum into what will be a tight match tomorrow."
Coastal returns to action Sunday at 1 p.m. when the Chants host Charlotte from the Billy Nichols Tennis Center.
AGATE
Doubles
Matt Gordon & Peter Billingham (Coastal) def. David Orces & Joshua Cook (The Citadel) 8-5
Alex Funkhouser & Danny Heidecker (Coastal) def. Jeremiah Dye & Elliot Sperr (The Citadel) 8-1
Dorian Sovic & Yusuke Kusuda (Coastal) def. James Atkinson & Dillion Berkabile (The Citadel) 8-4
Singles
Danny Heidecker (Coastal) def. David Orces (The Citadel) 6-2, 7-6
Dillion Berkabile (The Citadel) def. Alex Funkhouser (Coastal) 6-3, 6-3
Yusuke Kusuda (Coastal) def. Joshua Cook (The Citadel) 6-0, 6-2
James Atkinson (The Citadel) def. Peter Billingham (Coastal) 6-4, 3-6, 10-8
Dorian Sovic (Coastal) def. Elliot Sperr (The Citadel) 6-1, 6-4
Leo Christofides (Coastal) def. Jeremiah Dye (The Citadel) 6-1, 6-3
