Pirates Take On Coastal Carolina & UNCW

Match 4: East Carolina (2-2) at Coastal Carolina (2-2)
The Game	February 19 \\ 11 a.m. \\ Live Scoring
Venue	Conway, S.C. (Stevens Tennis Complex)
2021-22 Statistics	East Carolina \| Coastal Carolina
Social Media	Twitter \\\ Instagram

Match 5: East Carolina (2-2) at UNCW (2-1)
The Game	February 20 \\ 10 a.m.
Venue	Wilmington, N.C. (UNCW Courts)
2021-22 Statistics	East Carolina \| UNCW
Social Media	Twitter \\\ Instagram

GREENVILLE, N.C. – After weather forced a schedule change, the East Carolina women's tennis team will travel to Coastal Carolina and UNCW on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

ECU (2-2) had the weather change its schedule once again this season. The Pirates were originally scheduled for play UNCW on Friday afternoon before taking on Coastal Carolina on Saturday. ECU will now play the Chanticleers first, on Saturday morning, before taking on the Seahawks on Sunday morning.

The Pirates are still looking for their first road win of the season, beating Appalachian State (4-1) and UNCG (6-1) at home and falling to No. 3 North Carolina (7-0) and No. 6 NC State (7-0) on the road. Alisha Hussain leads the Pirates with a 6-5 singles record, including going 2-2 on court two. Ines Bachir and Martina Muzzolon each have five singles victories, with Muzzolon playing all four matches on court one. Anne Lou Champion and Isabella Rivera Ortiz have begun to form a solid tandem, going 2-1 together on court three. Sophia Cerezo Holgado and Alisa Diercksen are 1-0 on court two while Bachir and Hussain are 1-0 together on court one.

Coastal Carolina (2-2) is coming off a pair of victories, beating NC Central 7-0 before a tight 4-3 home victory over Presbyterian. The Chanticleers were also affected by weather this week, having their midweek match at Charleston Southern postponed due to rain. Anna Babayan and Victoire De Samucewicz are both 3-1 to lead Coastal Carolina, with Babayan 2-2 on court five and 1-0 on court six while De Samucewicz is 3-1 on court two. Mathilde Tranberg holds the top spot for the Chanticleers, where she is 2-2. In doubles, Babayan and Valentina Urelli are 3-1 on court three. Coastal Carolina is still looking for a top doubles pairing, having gone 1-2 on court one compared to a combined 5-2 on courts two and three.

It will be the first meeting between ECU and Coastal Carolina since March 7, 2020. The two schools met 11 straight years between 2009 and 2020 and have played 14 times since 2005. Coastal Carolina holds a slight 8-6 lead in the series over that span, including winning three of the last four. ECU is 0-6 on the road against the Chanticleers since 2005. Diercksen is the only Pirate who has played against Coastal Carolina in her career, winning in both singles and doubles in 2019 while dropping a singles and doubles match in 2018. Diercksen also matched up with Coastal Carolina's Valentina Urelli at the ITA Carolina Regional Championships this past fall, winning 6-4, 6-4.

UNCW (2-1) will now take on Gardner-Webb to open the weekend, before battling East Carolina on Sunday. The Seahawks are 2-1 with narrow 4-3 wins over Presbyterian and NC Central sandwiched around a 6-1 loss at Campbell. Zoe Huffman and Stela Joksimovic lead the Seahawks with 2-1 records in the three dual matches, with Huffman going 1-0 on court one and 1-1 on court two while Joksimovic is 2-0 on court five and 0-1 on court six. Sasha Belaya has also played on the top court for UNCW, going 1-1 there. Belaya and Lauren Gish have been the top doubles tandem for UNCW, going 2-0 on court one. Belaya also teamed with Huffman for a win on the top court and the Seahawks are 6-3 overall in doubles play.

East Carolina and UNCW also battled in the 2020 season, with ECU taking a 4-0 win, the third straight in the series for the Pirates. Since 2006, the Pirates and the Seahawks have played nine times, with the Pirates holding a narrow 5-4 edge. ECU is 3-2 in Wilmington, winning in 2020 and 2018. Diercksen is undefeated against UNCW, going 2-0 in singles and 1-0 in doubles. The two schools did match up in doubles at the UNCW Invitational this past fall, with the Seahawks winning two of the three matches.

First serve against Coastal Carolina is scheduled for 11 a.m., on Saturday morning. Sunday's match against UNCW will also get started at 10 a.m.

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Players Mentioned

Ines Bachir

Anne Lou Champion

Alisa Diercksen

Alisha Hussain

Martina Muzzolon

Isabella Rivera Ortiz

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