Men’s tennis team continues winning streak

This past weekend, the men’s tennis team looked to continue its hot start against the Connecticut Huskies and the UNC Asheville Bulldogs.

On Sunday, after shutting out the Huskies 7-0 the day before, the Pirates looked to move their overall record to 5-0 during their match against the Bulldogs.

In the doubles match, Freddie McGeehan and Kasey Countee lost their doubles match 6-4, but the pairings of Vlad Anghel and Fredric Lehfeldt won their doubles match 6-2, and Ronny Georgi with Will Bissett also won their match, 7-5, to give ECU the first point of the matchup.

In the singles match, it was a back and forth match between the Pirates and the Bulldogs. In the first singles match, McGeehan lost his sets 6-4, 6-3. On the second court, Georgi lost his match 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-2 after battling in the doubles match.

Anghel and Lehfeldt both won their matches 6-2, 6-2 each to give ECU a 3-2 lead but it was still anybody’s game.

Countee stepped on the court with the score being 3-2 with the opportunity to give ECU its fifth win in a row. Countee won the first, 6-3, with the momentum in his favor. In the second set, it was a battle for the most part to where it was 5-5. Countee, however won the last two games of his matchup to give ECU the 4-2 lead and the win.

“I’m just happy that the team won,” Countee said. “I had to get a break in the second set which I was able to get at five all. That helped push me towards my serve in the end to get the win.”

Bissett finished things off in the match against Asheville by winning the first set 6-2 and winning the second set 6-4.

“I think we got fortunate getting through the doubles, we were a little bit nervous which was more complicated than it should have been,” Heinchon said. “It was a big help as far as the momentum goes If we had lost the doubles point, I think the day could have been completely different.”

On Saturday, coming in off a victory on the road against George Mason University, ECU looked to continue its win streak against the Huskies at home. In the doubles match, McGeehan and Countee won their match 6-4, and Anghel along with Lehfeldt won their match 5-4 to give ECU the first point of the match.

In the singles match, McGeehan started things off by winning his match 6-3, 6-2 to give ECU a 2-0. In the next matchup, Anghel won the first set easily 6-2.

In the second set it was a lot tighter in that it went to a tiebreaker. Anghel won the second set 7-6(5). Georgi in the third match maintained his intensity from the doubles match to win his match 6-2, 6-2.

“I think that coming straight from doubles helped me stay warm,” Georgi said. “I made sure that I stayed focus from the beginning, and being warmed up helped perform as well as I did.”

When Lehfeldt stepped onto the court, ECU had already secured the win, but Lehfeldt added icing on the cake as he easily won his match 6-1, 6-1.

“I was prepared to have a long and tough match again, and work really hard, so I was focused in the beginning,” Lehfeldt said. “When I got the early lead, I never really let my opponent get into the match so I was able to win 6-1, 6-1.”

Countee played in the fifth singles match of the day. Countee won his match 6-4, 6-4 to give ECU a 6-0 lead.

Bissett stepped onto the court with the opportunity to help ECU shut out the Huskies. Bissett won the first set 6-4. In the second set, Bissett stayed strong and completed the shutout by winning the second set 6-4.

“Today was a great scenario where once we got the leads in our matches we did a good job of not letting people come back or kinda fighting their way back into it,” Heinchon said. The guys who were playing well, maintained their level and they stayed in control of their matches.”

The Pirates will be hitting the road to take on Navy in Maryland on Feb. 5.