Pirates Advance to Face No. 1 Seed USF at AAC Tournament

Thursday, April 20

Orlando, FL

9 a.m.

East Carolina University

Connecticut

Pirates Advance to Face No. 1 Seed USF at AAC Tournament

April 20, 2017 | Men's Tennis

Orlando, Fla. – No. 8 seed East Carolina (16-8) defeated No. 9 seed Connecticut, 4-1, in the first round of the American Athletic Conference Tournament at the USTA National Campus Thursday morning. The win marks the Pirates' second against the Huskies this season. ECU advances to face No. 1 seed USF Friday morning at nine.

"We are happy to get through UConn today," head coach Shawn Heinchon said. "I thought they played really well in singles and did a good job of winning some big points when it got tight. Pressure can be a funny thing especially when it's working against you. Sometimes you just have to adapt to the situation. As a team we weren't at our best but we got through the match which is what's important. We will need to be better tomorrow if we are going to have any chance against a very strong USF team."

East Carolina earned the doubles point when Vlad Anghel and Fredric Lehfeldt picked up a 6-4 win at No. 2 singles. Kasey Countee and Ronny Georgi earned a 6-2 win at the bottom of the lineup.

Anghel and Georgi quickly gave the Purple and Gold a 3-0 lead winning their respective matches at No. 2 and No. 3 singles. Jack McLister put the Huskies on the board with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Will Bissett at No. 6 singles but Lehfeldt secured the Pirates' win with a three-set victory over Justin Warren on court four.

ECU advances to the AAC Quarterfinals for the third consecutive year and will face the Bulls in the quarterfinals for the second time in as many years. In last year's AAC Tournament meeting, USF defeated the Pirates 4-0.

Results:
Singles
1. Freddie McGeehan (ECU) vs. Christopher Toner (UCONN) – 6-3, 3-6, 3-3
2. Vlad Anghel (ECU) def. Parker Goldstein (UCONN) – 6-3, 6-4
3. Ronny Georgi (ECU) def. Jacob Appleton (UCONN) – 6-2, 6-4
4. Fredric Lehfeldt (ECU) def. Justin Warren (UCONN) – 6-2, 1-6, 6-4
5. Kasey Countee (ECU) vs. Arnaud Valentin (UCONN) – 6-0, 6-7(3), 4-3
6. Jack McLister (UCONN) def. Will Bissett (ECU) – 4-6, 4-6

Doubles
1. Goldstein/Toner (UCONN) def. McGeehan/Ling (ECU) – 6-3
2. Anghel/Lehfeldt (ECU) def. Hill/Valentin (UCONN) – 6-4
3. Countee/Georgi (ECU) def. Appleton/Flanagan (UCONN) – 6-2