Gameday: Pirates Try To Continue Perfect Start At Home

Match 5: George Mason (0-1) at ECU (4-0)
Date	Friday, Feb. 1
Time	2:30 p.m. (EST)
Location	Greenville, N.C. (ECU Indoor Tennis Center)
Social Media	Twitter: @ecutennisM Instagram: @ecumenstennis Facebook: ECU Men's Tennis

Match 6: UNC Asheville (2-0) vs. ECU (4-0)
Date	Sunday, Feb. 3
Time	12 noon (EST)
Location	Greenville, N.C. (ECU Indoor Tennis Center)
Social Media	Twitter: @ecutennisM Instagram: @ecumenstennis Facebook: ECU Men's Tennis

GREENVILLE, N.C. – With four wins already banked, the ECU men's tennis team will try to continue its perfect start to the season by hosting George Mason and UNC Asheville this weekend at the ECU Indoor Tennis Center.

"It should be a good test for us this weekend with George Mason on Friday and UNC Asheville on Sunday," said head coach Shawn Heinchon. "We have not played George Mason in a couple of years, but we expect them to be ready for us. UNC Asheville will likely be the best team we have faced so far this year. They have the No. 2-ranked doubles team in the nation and a standout national ranked player playing No. 1 singles. We are going to need to play well to get through both of these matches this weekend."

ECU (4-0) is off to a 4-0 start for the fourth consecutive year and is looking to reach 6-0 for the first time since 2017 and second time under Heinchon. Wisse Jonker is a perfect 4-0 in singles so far and is second on the team with a 10-5 singles mark in 2018-19. Also perfect so far in dual match singles matches are Will Bissett (3-0), Javier Renones (3-0) and Austin Allen (2-0). Diogo Marques is 3-1 in dual matches and leads ECU with a 13-6 singles record overall.

In doubles, Renones is 4-0 in dual matches, combining with Bissett to go 1-0 on court two and 2-0 on court three. Vlad Anghel is 2-1 on court one in doubles, winning one match each with Marques and Jonker.

George Mason (0-1) has played just one math so far this spring, dropping a 5-2 decision at James Madison. Although James Madison prevailed by three points, the gap between the two teams is deceiving as four singles matches went to three sets. Edward Ayers leads George Mason with a 7-4 singles record after opening his spring campaign with a win on court one. The last time ECU took on George Mason was in 2016, when the Pirates won 7-0. Anghel, Georgi and Bissett all won singles matches in that victory.

UNC Asheville (2-0) started its season with home victories over Mars Hill (7-0) and Lenoir-Rhyne (5-2). The Bulldogs will take on George Mason on Saturday afternoon before matching up with ECU on Sunday. Asheville has the second-ranked doubles tandem in the country, as Henry Patten and Oli Nolan captured the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships title in November. It was one of three titles for the pairing, although they have yet to play together in the spring. Patten is also coming off a season where he became the first Asheville player to be chosen for the NCAA Singles Championship. Like George Mason, the last time ECU played UNC Asheville was in 2016, with ECU winning 5-2. Anghel and Bissett won singles matches that day, with Anghel, Georgi and Bissett all winning doubles matches.

Both of the weekend's matches will take place inside the ECU Indoor Tennis Center. The Pirates will take on George Mason at 2:30 p.m., on Friday afternoon. First serve for Sunday's match against UNC Asheville is scheduled for 12 noon. Fans can follow @ECUtennisM on Twitter for live results.

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Players Mentioned

Austin Allen

Vlad Anghel

Will Bissett

Wisse Jonker

Diogo Marques

Javier Renones

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