ECU Tennis moves into fall schedule

The East Carolina University Pirates men’s tennis team is scheduled to return to the court Sept. 13 against Liberty University to kick off the fall schedule.

The Pirates will begin the 2019-2020 season with four tournaments scheduled this fall. Fresh from summer break, the team is returning to the court to play against Liberty University in the Liberty Invitational. ECU has not faced Liberty since 2017 where they won 6-1.

Men’s tennis coach Shawn Heichon will lead his team into 2019 for his 14th year as head coach. His starting line-up includes senior Javier Renones as well as four incoming freshmen players. Renones enters his senior season with a record of 21-8 in singles and 15-1 pairs ledger from his 2018-2019 season. The men’s team finished the 2018-2019 season with a 14-7 overall record.

ECU will also face University of North Carolina at Greensboro and University of Richmond this fall. Both will be rematches from last season. In 2018-2019, the Pirates defeated both UNCG and Richmond by scores of 6-1 and 4-3, respectively.

The ECU women’s team, lead by head coach Tom Morris, will come into the 2019-2020 season with 22-3 record from last season. This record includes a 22-match win streak, the longest streak in East Carolina history.

Experience is abundant on the women’s team as they will be welcoming back two senior players, Lisa Hofbauer and Nastja Rettich. That is not to say the roster is void of fresh faces, with two new freshmen being added to the group in Hanna Axelson and Sibel Tanik.

Hofbauer enters her senior year with 17-12 singles and 21-7 doubles record and was named ACC All-American in the 2018-2019 season. Rettich comes into the 2019-2020 season with a singles record of 21-6 and doubles record of 11-9 from last season.

Spring schedules for both the Men’s and Women’s teams have yet to be announced. The men are scheduled to be in Lynchburg, Virginia from Sept. 13 through Sept. 15.