The East Carolina University men’s and women’s tennis teams went undefeated in their matches this weekend, as the women defeated Virginia Commonwealth University, 4-3, and North Carolina A&T University, 6-1, in a doubleheader on Saturday, and the men overcoming the College of Charleston on Sunday, 4-1.
For the women, the final home matches went according to plan, defeating VCU (12-4) and NC A&T (2-18) to improve their record to (15-8, 1-5 AAC) and finish home-play a perfect 7-0 on the season.
The team got down early in its first match against VCU, dropping the doubles point and two singles matches, but battled back to complete the comeback. Sophomore Lisa Hofbauer (4-6,6-3,6-3), freshman Alisa Diercksen (3-6,6-3,6-2), junior Annija Veinsteina (6-3,6-4) and freshman Hsia Ho Chiao (6-4,6-4) all won their singles matches, leading the Pirates back from down 3-1.
The momentum from the comeback win carried over into the second match of the double header. The team started hot this time, revenging the doubles point and going on to win five of six singles matches to crush NC A&T 6-1. Head coach Tom Morris was proud of his team’s play and of the fight it displayed in every match.
"Two solid wins Saturday. I'm very proud of our team, they battled hard, never gave up and did a great job of supporting each other,” Morris said per ecupirates.com. “Today was a great day for our program.”
The Pirates men’s team handled Charleston (7-10) to bring its season record to 19-4. With two matches left, the Pirates have the opportunity for the first 20-win season under head coach Shawn Heinchon.
The men, just like the women in game one, started cold. ECU dropped the doubles point, but came back in singles play by winning four matches in straight sets. The Pirates’ win was highlighted by junior Ronny Georgi (6-0,6-4), senior Kasey Countee (7-5,6-3), freshmen Wisse Jonker (6-4,7-5) and Javier Renones (6-0,6-3).
“The guys really stepped up today after losing a tough doubles point,” assistant coach Ian Van Cott said per ecupirates.com. “We got off to a great start in singles winning five first sets and we were able to use that momentum to close out the match. This was a great team effort throughout the lineup.”
The men will return to action tomrrow as they travel to Conway, South Carolina to face Coastal Carolina University (6-12). The women will have to wait slightly longer, returning to the court on Friday to face American Athletic Conference opponent, the University of Connecticut (10-8, 0-3 AAC) in Storrs.
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