Pirates Prepare For California Trip

Match 13: ECU (10-2) at UC Riverside (12-5)
Date	Tuesday, March 10
Time	1 PM (EST)
Location	Riverside, Calif. (SRC Tennis Courts)
Social Media	Twitter: @ecutennisM Instagram: @ecumenstennis Facebook: ECU Men's Tennis

Match 14: ECU (10-2) vs. Bucknell (5-6)
Date	Wednesday, March 11
Time	1 PM (EST)
Location	San Diego, Calif.
Social Media	Twitter: @ecutennisM Instagram: @ecumenstennis Facebook: ECU Men's Tennis

Match 15: ECU (10-2) at UC Irvine (5-3)
Date	Thursday, March 12
Time	1 PM (EST)
Location	Irvine, Calif. (Anteater Tennis Center)
Social Media	Twitter: @ecutennisM Instagram: @ecumenstennis Facebook: ECU Men's Tennis

GREENVILLE, N.C. – For the second time this season, the ECU men's tennis team will play three road matches in three days, this time taking a trip to California to matchup with UC Riverside, Bucknell and UC Irvine.

"Incredible opportunities for us the week to be in such great locations against schools we never get a chance to see," said head coach Shawn Heinchon. "It's great for us to be in different environments and test ourselves in different conditions against different schools. That helps us grow and learn a lot about where we are as a team. Our guys could not be more excited and are ready to go."

ECU (10-2) has won three straight matches and is a perfect 8-0 in home matches. The Pirates will be on their second three-match road trip of the season, having traveled to St. John's, Hofstra and NJIT earlier this season. ECU went 2-1 on that trip and have a 2-2 road record. Agustin Tamagnone leads ECU with a 19-6 singles record and is a dominant 8-1 on court four. Simon Labbe (17-10) and Federico Masetti (17-6) each have 17 wins. Diogo Marques is 15-3 and is 7-3 on court one for the Pirates. Wisse Jonker (12-8) and Javier Renones (11-10) have both provided veteran leadership on courts five and two, respectively.

In doubles, Marques and Masetti have been a force on court three, going 8-1 there and 10-1 as a tandem. Jonker and Renones are 8-5 and 4-2 on court two while Labbe and Tamagnone are 8-3 overall and 5-2 on court one.

UC Riverside (12-5) has won eight straight matches coming into the meeting with the Pirates. The Highlanders have spent the majority of their season on the road, playing three home matches compared to 14 road and neutral site matches. Riverside is 3-0 in those home matches, including wins over Villanova (4-3) and Hope International (7-0) last week. Gilbert Chung leads the team with a 10-3 singles record, including 6-3 on court one. Nabil Abdallah is 7-6 and has played matches on the top three courts. Daniel Velek is 8-4 for the Highlanders and is 8-3 on court four. In doubles, Abdallah and Chung lead the team with an 8-4 mark, going 5-3 on court two. Velek and Andreas Whelan-Merediz are 3-1, all on court one.

Bucknell (5-6) is in the middle of a five-match road trip of its own. The Bison opened their California trip with a 6-1 loss at UC Irvine and has won just one of their last four matches. Bucknell is led in singles by Marwan Abaza, who is 10-2 overall and 7-2 on court one. Michael Owen is the only other Bucknell player with a singles record over .500, as he is 8-3 with a 4-2 ledger on court two. As a team, the Bison are 32-37 in singles matches and 21-31 in dual matches. In doubles, Cooper Bradshaw and Owen are 7-2 to lead the team, including 4-2 on the top court. Abaza and Ryan Jurist are 4-3 as a tandem, all on court two.

UC Irvine (5-3) has won its last two matches and five of its last six, with the only loss coming at No. 17 UCLA. Jeremy Merville leads the Anteaters with a 13-4 singles record, including 6-1 in dual matches. Mike Mkrtchian (10-4) and Mateusz Smolicki (10-6) both have 10 wins, but each have just two wins in dual matches. Mark Peneff is 8-9 on the year, including 4-1 on court two while Daniel Gealer is 9-8 in total. In doubles, Peneff and Smolicki have played the majority of UC Irvine's matches on court one, going 3-2 there and 4-4 overall.

The Pirates will battle Riverside at 1 p.m., Eastern on Tuesday afternoon at the SRC Tennis Courts. ECU and Bucknell will battle at 1 p.m., on Wednesday in San Diego, Calif. The trip will come to an end with a 1 p.m., meeting with UC Irvine on Thursday afternoon at Anteater Tennis Center.

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Players Mentioned

Wisse Jonker

Simon Labbe

Diogo Marques

Federico Masetti

Javier Renones

Agustin Tamagnone

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