March 8, 2011
CONWAY, S.C. - The Coastal Carolina men's tennis team dropped a heartbreaking 4-3 decision to East Carolina Tuesday afternoon from the Billy Nichols Tennis Center.
The Chanticleers put themselves in a great position to take the doubles point after senior Alex Funkhouser and junior Danny Heidecker defeated Henrik Skalmerud and Stian Tvedt 8-4 at the No. 2 position, but East Carolina stormed back to win at No. 3 and No. 1 to claim the doubles point and take the early 1-0 lead.
Coastal Carolina tied the score 1-1 after senior Matt Gordon bested Jaroslav Horvath 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2 singles. The Pirates, however, regained the lead following a 6-0, 7-5 victory by Joran Vliegen at No. 4.
Sophomore Yusuke Kusuda pulled the Chants even at 2-2 following his 6-0, 6-1 win over Skalmerud at No. 3 before Funkhouser put Coastal ahead 3-2 with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Tvedt at No. 6.
East Carolina picked up wins at No. 1 and No. 5 in the final two matches to claim the match.
"We played hard tonight, but we were outplayed in doubles and that was the difference in the match," Coastal Carolina head coach Chris Powers said. "We are still trying to define ourselves as a team, but I think this group will find itself sooner rather than later. We have a nationally-ranked opponent on Thursday, and I think we will be ready for a dog fight."
Coastal Carolina returns to action Thursday at 4 p.m. when the Chanticleers host St. John's from the Billy Nichols Tennis Center.
AGATE
Doubles
Jaroslav Horvath & Joran Vliegen (East Carolina) def. Matt Gordon & Peter Billingham (Coastal Carolina) 8-5
Alex Funkhouser & Danny Heidecker (Coastal Carolina) def. Henrik Skalmerud & Stian Tvedt (East Carolina) 8-4
Massimo Mannino & Nathan Smiley (East Carolina) def. Dorian Sovic & Yusuke Kusuda (Coastal Carolina) 8-3
Singles
Massimo Mannino (East Carolina) def. Danny Heidecker (Coastal Carolina) 6-3, 6-4
Matt Gordon (Coastal Carolina) def. Jaroslav Horvath (East Carolina) 6-2, 6-1
Yusuke Kusuda (Coastal Carolina) def. Henrik Skalmerud (East Carolina) 6-0, 6-1
Joran Vliegen (East Carolina) def. Dorian Sovic (Coastal Carolina) 6-0, 7-5
John Schmitt (East Carolina) def. Peter Billingham (Coastal Carolina) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
Alex Funkhouser (Coastal Carolina) def. Stian Tvedt (East Carolina) 6-4, 6-4
