ROME, Ga. - The Coastal Carolina men's tennis team (9-13, 2-6 SBC) defeated James Madison (7-14, 0-8 SBC) in a 4-2 win over the Dukes in the opening round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament at the Rome Tennis Center in Rome, Ga. 

Despite dropping the first doubles match 6-4 in the third-seeded pairing, the Chants won the opening point to take an early 1-0 lead into singles play. CCU came from behind in both the first and second-seeded matches with seniors Carlos Berna Ruiz and Ryuya Ata defeating JMU's No. 1 seed Julian Lozano and Esteve Agusti 6-4. Guilherme Toresan and Lucas Wayenburg sealed the doubles point for Coastal with a come from behind, 7-6 win over the Dukes' No. 2 seed Youssef Sadek and Mario Pena. 

In singles, JMU evened the score by winning the second-seeded match between Berna Ruiz and the Dukes' Julian Lozano 6-1, 6-4. Toresan would later reclaim the lead for Coastal with a straight-set victory over Pena in the No. 5 spot. James Madison would once again even the score with a win over the Chants in the No. 1 seed match, putting the score back on level terms at two with three matches to play.  

Newcomers Eric Tripathi and Juan Cruz Collardin would seal the victory for CCU, winning the third set in the fourth and sixth-seeded matchups. Despite taking the lead after the first set, both Tripathi and Collardin had to recover after losing the second set to win by scores of 6-2 and 6-3, respectively, in the third. 

Following the win over James Madison in the opening round, the Chants advance to meet the No. 1 seed Georgia Southern Eagles tomorrow morning in a second-round matchup at 10 A.M. ET at the Rome Tennis Center. 

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