Pirates Take On UNCW & Coastal Carolina

Match 12: ECU(5-6) at UNCW (3-5)
Date	Friday, March 6
Time	2 p.m. (EST)
Location	Wilmington, N.C. (UNCW Courts)
Social Media	Twitter: @ECUWTennis Instagram: @ECUWTennis Facebook: ECU Pirates Women's Tennis

Match 13: ECU (5-6) at Coastal Carolina (4-3)
Date	Saturday, March 7
Time	10 a.m. (EST)
Location	Conway, S.C. (Stevens Tennis Complex)
Social Media	Twitter: @ECUWTennis Instagram: @ECUWTennis Facebook: ECU Pirates Women's Tennis

GREENVILLE, N.C. – After a 2-1 home weekend, the ECU women's tennis team will return to the road with matches at UNCW and Coastal Carolina.

"We are excited for this weekend and the opportunity to play two matches against two well coached teams," said interim head coach Kirstin Burgess. "Road matches are always challenging and this weekend is no exception."

ECU (5-6) is coming off an emotional home weekend. The Pirates lost a heartbreaking 4-3 match to Elon, but bounced back with wins against George Washington (4-1) and NC Central (7-0) on Saturday. Those were the final two matches of the Hall of Fame career of Tom Morris, who retired on March 1. Burgess will now take over as Interim Head Coach for the remainder of the season. Lisa Hofbauer has caught fire for the Pirates, winning four straight matches and she is now 9-7 on the season and 7-3 on court one. Minette Van Vreden has won three straight matches and is now 9-8 on the season and has played matches all the way from court three to court six. Sibel Tanik leads the team with 12 singles wins and is 4-5 on court two. Michelle Ncube and Nastja Rettich both have 10 wins for the Pirates. In doubles, the pairings of Ncube and Rettich and Hofbauer and Tanik each lead the team with six victories. Tanik and Hofbauer are 3-4 on court one and have played all of ECU's matches on court one.

UNCW (3-5) most recently earned a 4-3 win over George Washington to snap a four-match losing streak. The Seahawks will be playing just their third match at home when they take on the Pirates. Sarah Merrill leads UNCW with a 6-2 dual match record, going 3-1 on court four and 2-0 on court five. Celeste Matute is right behind her with a 5-2 ledger, winning two of her three matches on court one and three of four on court two. However, they are the only two Seahawks with a singles mark over .500 as the team is just 21-27 (.438) altogether. In doubles, Brinley Bell and Anna Daniels are 3-1 together while Rachel Marthinsen and Lauren Robbins are 3-2. Merrill and Sarah Horn have played the majority of the matches on court one, but are just 2-4 there and 3-5 overall. The two schools will be meeting for the fourth straight year, with ECU winning the previous two. Last year, the Pirates won 7-0 in Greenville behind wins from Hofbauer, Van Vreden and Rettich.

Coastal Carolina (4-3) has won two straight to get back over .500. The Chanticleers have been a dramatically different team at home versus on the road, going 4-0 in Conway, S.C., and 0-3 away from friendly confines. As a team, Coastal Carolina is 25-14 (.641) in singles matches. Flaminia Scara and Valentina Urelli are both 5-2 to lead the Chanticleers. Iryna Vardanian is 4-2, including 2-2 on the top court while Jessie Mount is also 4-2. In doubles, Somer Dalla-Bona and Mount are 5-1 together, all on court one. It will also be the fourth straight year ECU has taken on Coastal Carolina and the 14th time since 2005. Last season, ECU won 4-0 at home, with Hofbauer and Alisa Diercksen getting wins.

First serve for the match at UNCW is scheduled for 2 p.m., on Friday afternoon. The Pirates will take on Coastal Carolina at 11 a.m., on Saturday morning.

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Players Mentioned

Alisa Diercksen

Lisa Hofbauer

Michelle Ncube

Nastja Rettich

Sibel Tanik

Minette Van Vreden

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