Coastal Carolina Women’s Tennis Heads On the Road For Two Matches

Miki Bunea has a team-high 12 singles wins on the year

Chanticleers to play their first matches away from home in 2010

ON THE ROAD: Coastal Carolina’s women’s tennis squad will make its first road trip of the 2010 spring season, traveling to the state of Georgia to take on Georgia Southern, Feb. 20, and Mercer, Feb. 21.

THE SERIES WITH THIS WEEK’S OPPONENTS: Since 1996, the Chanticleers are 3-0 combined versus Georgia Southern and Mercer. Coastal is 2-0 against the Eagles and 1-0 versus the Bears.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: The Chanticleers are now scheduled to play 12 matches, including the first five in a row, at the Billy Nichols Tennis Center on campus this year and currently sport a 5-0 record. Last year, Coastal played 10 matches at home and sported a 7-3 record after going 39-8 (.830) from 2005-08 in Conway. This is also the most home matches in a season since 2006, when the Chants played 15 matches at the Billy Nichols Tennis Center, posting a 14-1 record at home.

MOVING UP THE CAREER CHARTS: Junior Maria Camberos and Kim Webb continue to move up on the win totals, as Webb has 69 singles victories, tied for eighth, and Camberos right behind with 67, currently 10th on Coastal Carolina’s all-time wins chart. In doubles, Webb is also tied for eighth with 66 victories, while Camberos is 12th on the list with 57 wins.

GETTING IT GOING EARLY: Transfer Miki Bunea is making an early impact for the Chanticleers, as she leads the team at 12-3 overall and is 5-0 in the duals. She is also 7-3 in doubles with partner Lexi Bolesky, including two wins in their only dual matches of the spring.

COASTAL MAKES IT FIVE IN A ROW: The Coastal Carolina University women’s tennis team captured all three doubles wins and five of six singles matches to earn a 6-1 victory over visiting Wofford at the Billy Nichols Tennis Center, Feb. 14.
Coastal got the first point of the day with a sweep of the doubles matches, as the duos of Lexi Bolesky/Miki Bunea at No. 1, Kim Webb/Maria Camberos at No. 2 and the No. 3’s Paty Cortes/Mary Hill each controlled their matches. The Chants then followed it up by winning five of the six singles matches in straight sets with the only loss at No. 3 singles. Bolesky dropped just one game at No. 1, while Webb also put forth a solid performance in dropping just two games at No. 4.

STREAKING!!!: Several of the Chanticleers are riding solid streaks entering this weekend’s action. Senior Kim Webb has won her last six singles matches, while four other players (senior Lexi Bolesky, sophomore Miki Bunea, senior Paty Cortes and freshman Mary Hill) have all won at least four in a row. In doubles, Cortes and Hill have won all five dual matches together, while Webb and Camberos have picked up four straight victories.

As a team, Coastal Carolina is 29-1 in singles in the spring and a perfect 15-0 in doubles.

CHANTS CONTINUE WINNING WAYS: The Coastal Carolina University women’s tennis team took a pair of dual matches, sweeping visiting Coker and North Carolina Central, 7-0, Feb. 6.

The Chants swept all nine matches in each of the duals. In the morning with Coker, Coastal lost just three games total in the nine matches, as eight of the nine opponents were held scoreless. In the afternoon session versus North Carolina Central, the Chants took five of the six singles matches in straight sets, with Kim Webb battling back at No. 3 singles to rally from a loss in the opening set to take the match in a third-set tiebreaker over Olesya Palko.

On the day, Miki Bunea, Lexi Bolesky and Paty Cortes all picked up a pair of singles victories, while the duos of Kim Webb/Maria Camberos and Cortes/Mary Hill also won both their doubles matches.

CHANTICLEERS POST SECOND STRAIGHT SWEEP: The Coastal Carolina University women’s team posted a 7-0 sweep of visiting Savannah State, Jan. 31. The Chants took every match in straight sets and did not lose a game in any set in the entire match.

OPENING WITH A WIN: The Coastal Carolina University women’s tennis team opened the 2009 spring season with a 7-0 sweep of visiting Appalachian State, Jan. 23.

The Chanticleers won all nine matches on the day, including four singles matches in straight sets. Coastal opened the match by taking all three doubles matches, starting with Maria Camberos and Kim Webb’s 8-0 sweep at No. 3 doubles over Laura Janke and Jennifer Ansari. The Chant duo of Paty Cortes and Mary Hill took an 8-4 decision over ASU’s Blakeley Bean and Gisela Fernandez to seal the doubles point for CCU. The final match at No. 1 was won by Coastal’s Lexi Bolesky and Miki Bunea, as they took an 8-6 victory over Olivia Stannard and Ellie Linsell.

Coastal took all six singles matches, with four of them straight-set victories by Bunea (No. 2), Webb (No. 3), Cortes (No. 4) and Hill (No. 6), with Hill winning all 12 games and Bunea and Webb losing just one game in their respective matches. Bolesky and Cortes both rallied at No. 1 and 4, respectively, after losing the first set to post three-set victories.

STARTING THE YEAR WITH EXPERIENCE AS WELL AS YOUTH IN THE LINEUP: The Chanticleers return five letterwinners from the 2009 squad. Among those are seniors Kim Webb, Maria Camberos and Paty Cortes, junior Lexi Bolesky and sophomore Caitlyn Brooksbank. Last year, Bolesky and Brooksbank were selected as an All-Big South doubles team, the second straight honor for Bolesky and first for Brooksbank. Bolesky also earned All-Big South accolades in 2009 for her singles play.

Among the five newcomers, one has collegiate experience as sophomore Miki Bunea played her freshman season at Virginia Commonwealth. The other four newcomers are freshmen Shelby Bates, Alex Derungs, Mary Hill and Amanda Malatek. All 10 will battle for playing time in the lineup early as Davis looks to find the right combination through competition.

A MILESTONE COACH: Near the end of the 2009 season, Head Coach Jody Davis earned his 200th career coaching victory with a 6-1 victory over Radford on April 11. He reached that benchmark faster than the only other Big South Conference coach with that many wins, Winthrop’s Cid Cavalho.

HEAD COACH JODY DAVIS: Head Coach Jody Davis is in his 14th season as the Coastal Carolina women’s tennis mentor. While at the helm, Davis has led Coastal Carolina to a 206-78 (.725) overall record and a 88-28 (.759) mark in the Big South Conference. A four-time Big South Coach of the Year honoree, Davis has guided the Chanticleers to two league championships and a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances.

CHANTS PICKED SECOND IN THE PRESEASON: The Coastal Carolina University women’s tennis team was picked to finish second in the Big South Conference preseason poll, announced by the league. The poll is voted on by the conference’s head coaches.

Winthrop’s women’s tennis team has been chosen first as, the defending champion Lady Eagles picked up six first-place bids and 62 points from the panel. Coastal Carolina claimed the remaining two top votes and finished with 52 points to place second in the poll.  In third was Charleston Southern, which garnered 45 points. Liberty claimed the fourth position with 44 points and Radford collected 31 points to round out the top five. UNC Asheville finished sixth with 25 points, while Gardner-Webb’s 18 points and Presbyterian College’s 11 points closed out the voting.

COMING UP: The Chanticleers will kick off Big South Conference play on the road, traveling to Boiling Springs, N.C. to take on Gardner-Webb, Fri., Feb. 26 at 1 p.m. Coastal will then return home for its Big South home opener against UNC Asheville, Sun., Feb. 28 at 10 a.m.

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