PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. – No. 3 Coastal Carolina defeated No. 6 Georgia Southern, 4-3, in the first quarterfinal match of the 2019 Sun Belt Men's Tennis Championship at the Peachtree Tennis Center. The Chanticleers saw two leads slip away, but rallied to win the final two singles points to advance to Saturday's semifinals.
Coastal (16-7) will face No. 2 South Alabama in Saturday's first semifinal match, which be available to watch on ESPN+. Georgia Southern ends its season at 15-11.
Coastal led first in the match after sweeping the doubles point.
Zak Talic and
Joel Popov defeated JC Alcala and Stefano Di Aloy 6-2 at No. 2.
Lawrence Perrin and
Luiz Faria followed with a 6-4 win at No. 1 to clinch the point.
Pyry Hyrkkonen and
Daiki Tanabe finished the sweep at No. 3, 7-5.
As singles began, Georgia Southern's Antonio Muniz evened the match for first time with a 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 1 over Faria.
Coastal then pulled back into the lead as Hyrkkonen downed Murphy McCullough at No. 3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
The match was tied a second time following a 6-4, 7-5 win by Di Aloy over Talic at No. 2. The Eagles then took a 3-2 lead with a 6-1, 6-4 No. 4 win by Diego Finkelstein over Popov.
Gonzalo Achondo kept the Chants hopes alive by winning the No. 5 match, 6-1, 6-3, and Tanabe provided the match winner in dominant fashion at No. 6, 6-1, 6-0.
Coastal Carolina 4, Georgia Southern 3
Singles competition
1. Muniz, Antonio (GS) def. Faria, Luiz (CCU) 6-3, 6-4
2. Di Aloy, Stefano (GS) def. Talic, Zak (CCU) 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 7-5
3. Hyrkkonen, Pyry (CCU) def. McCullough, Murphy (GS) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
4. Finkelstein, Diego (GS) def. Popov, Joel (CCU) 6-1, 6-4
5. Achondo, Gonzalo (CCU) def. Wagemaker, Pascal (GS) 6-1, 6-3
6. Tanabe, Daiki (CCU) def. Suarez, Santiago (GS) 6-1, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. Perrin, Lawrence/Faria, Luiz (CCU) def. Muniz, Antonio/McCullough, Murphy (GS) 6-4
2. Talic, Zak/Popov, Joel (CCU) def. Alcala, JC/Di Aloy, Stefano (GS) 6-2
3. Hyrkkonen, Pyry/Tanabe, Daiki (CCU) def. Garcia, Carlos/Wagemaker, Pascal (GS) 7-5
Match Notes:
Georgia Southern 15-11, 2-5 Sun Belt
Coastal Carolina 16-7, 5-2 Sun Belt
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (1,3,2,4,5,6)
2019 Sun Belt Men's Tennis Championship - Match 1
Match was played indoors
