CONWAY, S.C. - The Coastal Carolina men's tennis team began its 2024 spring campaign today with a 4-1 opening-day defeat to the Knights of Central Florida at the Stevens Tennis Complex. 

In today's earlier match, UCF defeated the UNC Wilmington Seahawks 4-2 after picking up four singles wins, and one doubles win. 

Coastal began their day with two doubles victories over the Knights, with senior duos Carlos Berna Ruiz and Lucas Wayenburg and Ryuya Ata and Maj Tomac recording their first doubles wins of the new year. UCF came into Conway as a the 20th-ranked doubles team in Division 1, marking tonight as the highest-ranked doubles victory in CCU history.

In singles play, Coastal dropped three of the six matchups. Berna Ruiz and Tomac were unable to complete their singles match, leaving the pair with a DNF. Senior Guilherme Toresan was forced to exit his match against UCF's Paul Colin due to injury.

"The guys played with a lot of energy tonight," head coach Chris Powers said after the Chants loss to Central Florida. "Taking the doubles point against a quality team like UCF is encouraging. We started out great in singles as well, but credit to them for stepping up during the late stages of the match. That being said, the guys fought hard to the end and that is a good starting point for us to build on when we get back on the practice court." 

After an opening day victory on their home turf, the Chants will welcome South Carolina State to Conway on Sat, Jan. 27, with match play starting at 1 P.M. ET. 

Doubles: 

Carlos Berna Ruiz/Lucas Wayenburg (CCU) def. Santiago Giamichelle/Lleyton Cronje (UCF) 6-4 

Ryuya Ata/Maj Tomac (CCU) def. Francisco Llanes/Liam Branger (UCF) 6-3 

Paul Colin/Yassine Dlimi (UCF) def. Guilherme Toresan/Jesus Garcia (CCU) 6-3 

Singles: 

Yassine Dlimi (UCF) vs. Carlos Berna Ruiz (CCU) 7-5, 2-2 (DNF)

Lleyton Cronje (UCF) def. Ryuya Ata (CCU) 6-2, 6-2 

Francisco Llanes (UCF) vs. Maj Tomac (CCU) 6-4, 2-2 (DNF)

Paul Colin (UCF) def. Guilherme Toresan (CCU) 6-4 (Toresan retired due to injury) 

Santiago Giaichelle (UCF) def. Jesus Garcia (CCU) 6-3, 6-1 

Mehdi Benchakroun (UCF) def. Lucas Wayenburg (CCU) 6-3, 6-3 

For complete coverage of CCU men's tennis, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalMTennis (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUSports (Instagram) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at goccusports.com