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Santtu Leskinen is all over a backhand

Men's Tennis Joe Browning

No. 55 Seahawks Off To 5-1 Start After Beating Chanticleers

Match Results

WILMINGTON, North Carolina – The UNCW men's tennis team continued its four-match home stand on Tuesday by cruising past regional rival Coastal Carolina, 5-2,  to win for the fifth time in six outings this spring.
 
Coach Mait DuBois and his team plays again on Saturday, Feb. 14, when Navy visits the UNCW courts for a Noon match.
 
In Tuesday's match, the 55th-ranked Seahawks rallied from behind to take the doubles point and then won four of the six singles matches to turn back the Chanticleers.
 
"Coastal Carolina is a very talented team and a mature team," said DuBois, UNCW's eighth-year coach. "They came in with a lot of confidence and pushed us in singles and doubles. I was very pleased with how we responded to their pressure, and it was the best team effort we've had this spring. This is the kind of win that we will take a lot from, and I feel will help us take a stride forward."
 
In doubles action, CCU won the first match off the court at the No. 3 slot before the Seahawks rallied for wins at No. 2 and No. 1. Zach Hublitz and Andres Torres breezed past CCU's Renan Samed and Garik Yedigarian, 6-2, to start the comeback at No. 2 doubles and the top tandem of Christiaan Van der Burgh and Santtu Leskinen clinched the early point by outlasting Philippe Tsangarides and Kaue Pereira, 7-6 (1).
 
"A crucial part of the match," DuBois said, "was Santtu and Christiaan fighting back from 5-3 down in the deciding doubles match. They ended up clinching it for us in a tie-breaker and really played well on some huge points. It set the tone for us going into singles and gave us a lot of momentum. Santtu then followed it up with a quick win in singles. He put in a great performance for us today."
 
A junior from Helsinki, Finland, Leskinen made quick work of Pereira at No. 2 singles, 6-2, 6-1, to give the Seahawks a 2-0 advantage before the Chanticleers answered with a victory at the No. 6 position.
 
Torres then defeated Pedro Leme, 6-2, 6-3, at No. 5 singles to give the Seahawks a 3-1 advantage before freshman Xander Veys clinched the match by dumping Vuk Velickovic, 6-3, 6-4, at the No. 3 position.
 
The Seahawks have 15 matches remaining in the spring season, including six more home matches.
 
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Players Mentioned

Zach Hublitz

Zach Hublitz

PLAYER
6' 0"
Senior
Santtu Leskinen

Santtu Leskinen

PLAYER
6' 1"
Junior
Christiaan Van der Burgh

Christiaan Van der Burgh

PLAYER
6' 3"
Junior
Andres Torres

Andres Torres

PLAYER
5' 9"
Freshman
Xander Veys

Xander Veys

PLAYER
6' 2"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Zach Hublitz

Zach Hublitz

6' 0"
Senior
PLAYER
Santtu Leskinen

Santtu Leskinen

6' 1"
Junior
PLAYER
Christiaan Van der Burgh

Christiaan Van der Burgh

6' 3"
Junior
PLAYER
Andres Torres

Andres Torres

5' 9"
Freshman
PLAYER
Xander Veys

Xander Veys

6' 2"
Freshman
PLAYER