Dukes Fall Short in Sun Belt First-Round Bout with Coastal

Thursday, April 18

Rome, Ga.

10 a.m.

James Madison University

Coastal Carolina

Dukes Fall Short in Sun Belt First-Round Bout with Coastal

4/18/2024 2:35:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

ROME, Ga. – No. 8 Coastal Carolina rallied to win the doubles point and claimed two of three singles victories in three sets to slide past No. 9 James Madison, 4-2, in the opening round of the 2024 Sun Belt Conference Men's Tennis Championship on Thursday afternoon at the Rome Tennis Center.

The Chanticleers improved to 9-13 on the year and advance to Friday's quarterfinal against top-seeded Georgia Southern, while the Dukes saw their season end at 7-14.

CCU staved off three match points to rally for a tiebreak win to clinch the doubles point, while it claimed three singles wins, with two coming via three sets.

For JMU, senior Youssef Sadek and sophomore Julian Lozano recorded singles victories on the top-two courts, while the team of Edson Sanchez and Francisco Sinopoli registered a doubles triumph on court three.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Doubles Play

JMU gained the early doubles advantage on court three, where Sanchez and Sinopoli held off Rivers Cahill and Eric Tripathi, 6-4.
Coastal evened things up, rallying on court one for a 6-4 win by Ryuya Ata and Carlos Berna Ruiz over Esteve Agusti and Lozano.
Mario Pena and Sadek held a 6-5 lead and had three match-point opportunities, but the tandem of Guilherme Toresan and Lucas Wayenburg saved the bout and forced a tiebreak. In the breaker the Coastal pair won 7-3 to secure the doubles point with a 7-6 (3) victory.

Singles Play

Lozano evened the match at 1-1 on court two, as he downed Berna Ruiz, 6-1, 6-4. He closed the season on a career-best, 10-match singles win streak with a 12-6 dual mark (12-4 on court two).
Toresan gave the lead back to Coastal on court five, as he took down Pena in straight sets, at 6-3, 6-3.
Sadek closed his JMU career with his 20th singles win of the season, as he upended Ata, 7-5, 6-3, squaring the match at 2-2.
The final three matches would all go to three sets, as Sinopoli and Sanchez forced a third while Wayenburg overcame a set deficit for CCU.
The Chants recaptured the lead for good on court four, as Tripathi ran away in the third for a 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 win over Sinopoli.
Coastal clinched the match on court six, where Juan Cruz Collardin earned a 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3 triumph against Sanchez.
The final matchup, which was between Agusti and Wayenburg on court three, went unfinished while tied in the third set. The scores were 6-2, 4-6, 6-6 unfinished.