Men's Tennis Rallies to Win Big South Championship

LYNCHBURG, Va. - The Coastal Carolina men's tennis team rallied to even the match after trailing 3-1, and senior Pedro Leme held off a late surge from #2 Presbyterian's Danny Bruce as the Chanticleers claimed their sixth Big South tournament championship in a thrilling 4-3 win Saturday at Liberty's Cook Tennis Center.

Coastal faced an uphill battle after surrendering the doubles point and two of the first three singles points on courts four and five, but claimed the final three singles points from Jabor Al-Mutawa (No. 1), Luiz Faria (No. 6) and Leme (No. 3) to clinch the win and the title.

It is Coastal's second tournament championship under head coach Chris Powers, and second in the last four seasons. Saturday's match was also a rematch of the 2013 Big South Championship, in which the Chants defeated the Blue Hose 4-1 for the conference title.

With the win, Coastal earns the Big South's automatic bid into the 2016 NCAA Men's Tennis Championship, set to begin with first-round action on May 14.

Presbyterian took control of the match early after winning the doubles point on courts three and two.

The No. 3 Blue Hose pairing of Joel Roberts and Diego Manzanas won 6-2 over Jabor Al-Mutawa and Sebastian Schneider before Bruce and Ben Kelley finished the point with a 6-4 victory against Rick Timmerman and Luiz Faria at No. 2.

Vuk Velickovic, who claimed the match-winning point in Coastal's 4-3 semifinal win over Liberty on Friday, evened the match at 1-1 with a straight-sets victory at No. 2 against Alejandro Bejar.

Brandon Mills (No. 4) and Manzanas (No. 5) gave PC its 3-1 lead after winning their respective singles matches.

Al-Mutawa sparked the Chanticleer comeback on the first court, topping Alexander Lykou 1-6, 7-5, 6-0.

Faria, also having lost his opening set, followed with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 6 over Kelley.

Leme fell in a close 6-7 (4-7) opening set but responded 6-2 in the second. Leme appeared to have the match in hand after leading Bruce 4-1 in the third, though Bruce rallied to even the set 4-4. He would go no further, however, as Leme finished off the set 6-4 to seal the win for the Chants.

Notes:
It is the third time in program history that the Chants have captured the Big South regular-season and tournament titles in the same season (1994, 2013, 2016).

Those are also the only three seasons in which the Chants went unbeaten in Big South Conference play.

Coastal Carolina 4, Presbyterian 3
Singles competition
1. Al-Mutawa, Jabor (COASTAL) def. Alexander Lykou (PC) 1-6, 7-5, 6-0
2. Velickovic, Vuk (COASTAL) def. Alejandro Bejar (PC) 6-2, 6-3
3. Leme, Pedro (COASTAL) def. Danny Bruce (PC) 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 6-4
4. Brandon Mills (PC) def. Schneider, Sebastian (COASTAL) 6-2, 6-4
5. Diego Manzanas (PC) def. Timmerman, Rick (COASTAL) 5-7, 6-2, 6-3
6. Faria, Luiz (COASTAL) def. Ben Kelley (PC) 2-6, 6-4, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. LEME, Pedro/VELICKOVIC, Vuk (COASTAL) vs. Alexander Lykou/Brandon Mills (PC) 4-4, unfinished
2. Danny Bruce/Ben Kelley (PC) def. FARIA, Luiz/TIMMERMAN, Rick (COASTAL) 6-4
3. Joel Roberts/Diego Manzanas (PC) def. AL-MUTAWA, Jabor/SCHNEIDER, Sebastian (COASTAL) 6-2

Match Notes:
Presbyterian 14-16, 6-2 BSC
Coastal Carolina 21-3, 8-0 BSC
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (2,4,5,1,6,3)

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Coastal Rewind 
March 31, 2020: 2014 Big South Volleyball Championship
April 3, 2020: 2013 FCS Football Playoff Win at Montana
April 7, 2020: Coastal Football Beats Kansas for First-Ever Power 5 Win
April 10, 2020: Women's Basketball Defeats Troy in Shootout for First-Place
April 14, 2020: 2014 Big South Men's Basketball Championship Game
April 17, 2020: 2003 Men's Soccer Season
April 21, 2020: Women's Lacrosse Wins 2015 Big South Tournament Game Over Campbell
April 24, 2020: Coastal Baseball Walks-Off Clemson to Give Gilmore His 900th Win
April 28, 2020: Coastal Softball Advances to 2019 Sun Belt Championship Game
May 1, 2020: Women's Soccer Defeats Texas State to Advance in 2017 Sun Belt Championship
May 5, 2020: Volleyball Wins 2017 Sun Belt Championship
May 8, 2020: Football Comes-From-Behind to Beat Liberty in Double-Overtime (2013)
May 12, 2020: Women's Golf Wins the 2018 Sun Belt Championship