April 3, 2011

CONWAY, S.C. - The Coastal Carolina men's tennis team fell to Winthrop 5-2 Sunday afternoon from the Billy Nichols Tennis Center.

Winthrop struck first and won the doubles point to grab a 1-0 lead. Seniors Matt Gordon and Peter Billingham won the first match of the afternoon with an 8-6 victory over Sergery Belov and Liran Levy at No. 1, but the Eagles won the final two matches to win the point.

Belov put Winthrop ahead 2-0 when he defeated Gordon 0-6, 6-2, 6-1 at the No. 1 position before Levy upped the lead to 3-0 with a 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 win over Alex Funkhouser at No. 3.

Sophomore Yusuke Kusuda notched the first point of the match for the Chants when he defeated Dejon Bivens 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 at No. 2. Junior Danny Heidecker pulled Coastal within one point at 3-2 following his 6-4, 7-5 win over Guy Kubi at the No. 4 position.

Winthrop, however, claimed the final two singles matches en route to the victory.

Coastal Carolina returns to action Thursday at 2:30 p.m. when the Chanticleers host UNC Wilmington from the Billy Nichols Tennis Center.

AGATE
Doubles
Matt Gordon & Peter Billingham (Coastal Carolina) def. Sergery Belov & Liran Levy (Winthrop) 8-6
Guy Kubi & Nadav Ruppin (Winthrop) def. Alex Funkhouser & Danny Heidecker (Coastal Carolina) 8-6
Dejon Bivens & Yuta Hirokawa (Winthrop) def. John Karle & Yusuke Kusuda (Coastal Carolina) 8-6

Singles
Sergery Belov (Winthrop) def. Matt Gordon (Coastal Carolina) 0-6, 6-2, 6-1
Yusuke Kusuda (Coastal Carolina) def. Dejon Bivens (Winthrop) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
Liran Levy (Winthrop) def. Alex Funkhouser (Coastal Carolina) 2-6, 6-2, 7-6
Danny Heidecker (Coastal Carolina) def. Guy Kubi (Winthrop) 6-4, 7-5
Nadav Ruppin (Winthrop) def. Dorian Sovic (Coastal Carolina) 6-4, 3-6, 5-4
Yuta Hirokawa (Winthrop) def. Leo Christofides (Coastal Carolina) 7-6, 6-2