Final Stats

CONWAY - The Coastal Carolina men's tennis team won its third straight match on Saturday, downing Longwood 6-1 in its 2016 Big South opener at the Coastal Carolina Tennis Complex.

Coastal jumps to 3-1, 1-0 with the win, while the Lancers fall to 1-3, 0-1. It is Coastal's eighth consecutive win in a conference-opening match dating back to the 2009 season.

The Chants struck first in doubles, grabbing wins on the third and first courts to take a 1-0 match lead.

Luiz Faria and Rick Timmerman started the round with 6-0 blanking of Bharani Sankar and Rosen Ilchey at No. 3, and Coastal's No. 1 paring of Pedro Leme and Vuk Velickovic sealed the point with a tight 7-5 win over Alfonso Castellano and Julian Farthing.

Coastal's lead was extended to 2-0 after Nic Planchard led off singles with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Lachlan Manser on court six. Francesco Migliano delivered the Chants' third point with a straight-sets win at No. 5, and Leme sealed the win at No. 3, besting Sankar 6-0, 6-4.

Coastal's final two points came from Jabor Al-Mutawa (No. 2) and Sebastian Schneider (No. 4).

Longwood's lone point came at No. 1 singles, where Castellano topped Velickovic 6-4, 7-5.

"Both team battled tough conditions today," said Chris Powers. "It's always good to open the conference schedule with a win, but we cleary have to improve in a couple areas if we are going to reach our goals this season. I expect a good week back on the practice court getting ready for our next matches."

The Chants' next match will take place on Feb. 19 when Coastal hosts North Carolina Central for a 2 p.m. match at the Coastal Carolina Tennis Complex.

Coastal Carolina 6, Longwood 1
Singles competition
1. Alfonso Castellano (LONG) def. Velickovic, Vuk (COASTALM) 6-4, 7-5
2. Al-Mutawa, Jabor (COASTALM) def. Florian Uffer (LONG) 6-4, 6-3
3. Leme, Pedro (COASTALM) def. Bharani Sankar (LONG) 6-0, 6-4
4. Schneider, Sebastian (COASTALM) def. Julian Farthing (LONG) 4-6, 6-2, 10-5
5. Migliano, Francesco (COASTALM) def. Rosen Ilchey (LONG) 6-0, 6-1
6. Planchard, Nic (COASTALM) def. Lachlan Manser (LONG) 6-1, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. LEME, Pedro/VELICKOVIC, Vuk (COASTALM) def. Alfonso Castellano/Julian Farthing (LONG) 7-5
2. Lachlan Manser/Florian Uffer (LONG) def. AL-MUTAWA, Jabor/SCHNEIDER, Sebastian (COASTALM) 6-3
3. FARIA, Luiz/TIMMERMAN, Rick (COASTALM) def. Bharani Sankar/Rosen Ilchey (LONG) 6-0

Match Notes:
Longwood 1-3
Coastal Carolina 4-1
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (6,5,3,2,4,1)