ECU Takes On Hampton And VCU

Match 8: Hampton (0-3) at ECU (6-1)
Date	Friday, February 14
Time	1 PM (EST)
Location	Greenville, N.C. (ECU Indoor Tennis Center)
Social Media	Twitter: @ecutennisM Instagram: @ecumenstennis Facebook: ECU Men's Tennis

Match 9: ECU (6-1) at VCU (6-2)
Date	Sunday, February 16
Time	12 noon (EST)
Location	Richmond, Va. (Thalhimer Tennis Center)
Social Media	Twitter: @ecutennisM Instagram: @ecumenstennis Facebook: ECU Men's Tennis

GREENVILLE, N.C. – After a successful 2-1 road trip up north, the ECU men's tennis team will play a pair of matches closer to home this weekend, hosting Hampton on Friday and traveling to VCU on Sunday.

"It will be nice to be back at home on Friday after a long but very enjoyable weekend in New York, "said head coach Shawn Heinchon. "It's been a couple years since we've played Hampton and even longer since we've played VCU which I think is great for our players. The more variety we can have in our schedule, the better. We will need to be our best once we see VCU on Sunday. Year in and year out, the Rams are always one of the top-50 teams in the country. They are the perennial favorite in the Atlantic 10 and this year is no exception. We saw some of their guys in the fall at some individual tournaments and they were very impressive. Should be a great opportunity for us. Go Pirates."

ECU (6-1) is coming off a three-match weekend that saw the Pirates narrowly fall to Big East contender St. John's (4-3) before beating Hofstra (4-0) and NJIT (7-0). Already five different Pirates have won at least 10 singles matches while Javier Renones (9-7) is just one win away. Simon Labbe leads the Pirates with a 16-8 record and he is 4-1 on court three this spring. Agustin Tamagnone is a perfect 5-0 on court four and is second on the team, checking in at 15-5. Federico Masetti has started his freshman campaign on the right foot and is 13-5 with a 5-1 mark on court six. Masetti is tied with Wisse Jonker for the team lead in dual match wins, as both are 6-1. Jonker has played all his matches on court five and is 10-7 for the season. At the top of the lineup, Diogo Marques is 4-2 on court one and 12-2 on the season.

In doubles, the Pirates are 12-3 in dual matches. Labbe and Agustin Tamagnone have teamed together to create a formidable partnership, going 4-0 on court one and 7-1 as a duo. Jonker and Renones are 5-4 this year with a 3-1 record in dual matches. Marques and Masetti are the third Pirate tandem and they are 5-1 together, including 4-1 on court three.

Hampton (0-3) will come to Greenville well rested, the Pirates have not played since February 2, and hungry for its first victory. Hampton has dropped consecutive 3-0 losses to Old Dominion, Georgetown and Richmond. Fernando Fernandes has held the top spot in singles for the Pirates. In doubles, Fernandes and Fayzullokhan Malvyud are 0-2 on court one while Matthew Foster-Estwick and Cliff Dwyer are 1-1 on court two. The two squads met in Greenville in 2018, with ECU winning 6-1. Renones and Jonker won a
doubles match on court three in the victory.

VCU (6-2) will be a stiffer test for the Pirates with the Rams coming into the weekend on a five-match winning streak. The Ram's only setbacks have been at SEC foes LSU and Auburn and are coming off a 6-1 win at James Madison. Rayan Stable leads VCU with a 15-8 singles mark. Lleyton Cronje, Inigo Torre Martin and Timo Zgraggen all have 12 wins, with Cronje going 4-1 on court one. In doubles, Martin and Stable are 9-2 together, including 4-0 on court two.

First serve against Hampton is scheduled for 1 p.m., on Friday afternoon inside the ECU Indoor Tennis Center. The Pirates will take on VCU at 12 noon on Sunday at the Thalhimer Tennis Center.

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Players Mentioned

Wisse Jonker

Simon Labbe

Diogo Marques

Federico Masetti

Javier Renones

Agustin Tamagnone

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