Gameday: Pirates Host Richmond & App State

Match 7: Richmond (3-1) at ECU (5-1)
Date	Friday, Feb. 8
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 8: Appalachian State (1-3) at ECU (5-1)
Date	Sunday, Feb. 10
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. – After its first loss of the season, the ECU men's tennis team will try to bounce back with a pair of home matches against Richmond and Appalachian State inside the ECU Indoor Tennis Center.

"We have had some great matches the last several years with both Richmond and App State," said head coach Shawn Heinchon. "Someone always seems to win 4-3 or 5-2 and very likely will be the case this weekend with both matchups. So far this year, we have struggled a little bit to all play well on the same day. One day our doubles are good and then our singles seems to be average or vice-versa. We need to bridge that gap a little and just play a little more consistent in all areas, which will give us a better chance to get through these close matches. One thing for sure, our guys fight hard no matter who is playing and or who is playing well which you have to love"

ECU (5-1) split a pair of home matches last weekend, topping George Mason 7-0 and falling to UNC Asheville 7-0. In the loss, ECU dropped the first four points of the match and won the final three singles matches. Wisse Jonker dropped a three-set thriller against Asheville, his first loss in a dual match this season. However, the strong recent play of Will Bissett, Ronny Georgi and Austin Allen all continued, as each have now won at least four straight matches with Bissett winning all five of his dual matches.

In doubles, Georgi and Diogo Marques battled against UNC Asheville's top pairing, which is ranked No. 2 in the nation. The top duo by record for ECU is Simon Labbe and Javier Renones, who have a 6-1 record together and are 2-0 in dual matches. The Pirates have been strong on courts two and three in doubles, going 4-2 and 4-1 there respectively.

Richmond (3-1) comes into Greenville on a three-match winning streak after opening the season with a 7-0 loss to VCU. The Spiders have had consecutive 4-3 wins, topping Wofford and UNC Greensboro. Matt Fernandez leads Richmond with a 12-6 singles record, including going 3-1 in dual matches. In doubles, George Lovitt and John Walsh are undefeated on court two, going 4-0 there and 6-1 as a pair. Last season, ECU beat Richmond 5-2 on the road, with Georgi, Jonker and Renones winning singles matches.

App State (1-3) has struggled so far this year, falling to Elon (4-0), East Tennessee State (7-0) and Clemson (6-1) while beating North Carolina A&T (4-0). Milo Bageron has held court one for the Mountaineers and is just 1-3 there while Alex Pavkovich is 1-3 on court two as well. In doubles, the Mountaineers are 0-3 on court one and have won the doubles point just once. The last time the two programs met was in 2016 when ECU won 4-1. Vlad Anghel and Georgi both had singles wins that day.

Both matches this weekend will be played inside the ECU Indoor Tennis Center. First serve for the match against Richmond is scheduled for 2:30 p.m, on Friday afternoon followed by a 12 noon start on Sunday for the match against Appalachian State. Fans can follow the Pirates on twitter at @ECUtennisM for live updates.

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Players Mentioned

Austin Allen

Vlad Anghel

Will Bissett

Ronny Georgi

Wisse Jonker

Simon Labbe

Diogo Marques

Javier Renones

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