Men's and Women's Tennis SoCon Tournament Set, Davidson Plays on Thursday

Interview with Nicky Kunz
Interivew with Brites Moniz-Soares
2012 Men's Statistics • 2012 Men's Bracket (pdf)
2012 Women's Statistics • 2012 Women's Bracket (pdf)
SoCon Tennis Tournament Site

DAVIDSON, N.C. — The Davidson men's and women's tennis teams head to Charleston, S.C., where they will take part in the 2012 Southern Conference Tournament, Apr. 19-22.

The Wildcat men (7-13, 3-7 SoCon), seeded ninth, will be seeking the program's 10th tournament title, and first since 1973, while the Wildcat women (5-18, 2-8 SoCon) are looking for their first title. The women are also seeded ninth this year for the tournament.

The men will matchup in the first round against eighth-seeded Chattanooga (13-8, 4-6 Socon) on Thursday, Apr. 19, at 9 a.m.. The Mocs closed out the regular season losing their final three matches, including a 4-3 defeat to Davidson at home.

Should the 'Cats advance, first-seeded College of Charleston (15-4, 9-1 SoCon) awaits them in the next round on Friday, Apr. 20, with match time set for 8:30 a.m. The Cougars earned the top seed and recently defeat Davidson 5-2 in both teams regular-season finale.

The women will open tournament play vs. eighth-seeded Georgia Southern (5-14, 2-8 SoCon) on Thursday, with match time set for 9 a.m. The lost four of their final five matches, but their lone win in that span was a 4-2 decision over Davidson.

If the women advance, they would take on top-seeded UNCG (16-5, 10-0 SoCon) on Friday at 8:30 a.m. The Spartans went a perfect 10-0 in league play this year and rattled off wins in 11 of its last 12 matches.

All matches will have live stats and can be followed at soconsports.com.

The All-Time Series/Last Meeting
The all-time series vs. Wofford is knotted up at 10-apiece after the Wildcats scored a 4-3 road win this year. Calum Gee and Nicky Kunz won a pair of three-setters to lead Davidson with four singles wins in capturing the team victory.

For the women, they have a solid 18-7 mark against the Eagles, but have dropped three of the last four meetings. Davidson fell 4-2 in this year's regular season meeting, March 31. Brites Moniz-Soares and Nisha Crouser were the lone 'Cats to score wins in singles action. Due to rain in the area, there was no doubles matches played.

SoCon Tournament History
Davidson men are 11-12 since 1998 in the tournament. Last year saw the Wildcats win their first-round match over Wofford, 4-1, before seeing their season end with a 4-0 setback to College of Charleston.

The Wildcat women are 17-13 in the tournament since 1993, the first year Davidson was a part of the SoCon. In three of the past seven league tournaments, they have reached the finals, facing Furman each time.

Last year their season ended in the first round when they dropped a 4-0 match to Elon.

Scouting the Wildcat Men- Quick Hits
• Davidson enters the tournament having dropped four of their last five matches, but the one win was against first-round foe Chattanooga.
• The 'Cats went a combined 55-63 in singles play this year and they were an even 30-30 in league matches.
• Three players reached the 10-win plateau for the second time in the past three seasons.
• Freshman Nicky Kunz has a team-best 12 singles wins and was one of three 'Cats to go 6-4 in league matches.
• The first-year played rattled off a five-match win streak in the early goings of the season.
• Kunz was named to the 2012 All-SoCon Freshman Team.
• Connor Evins (10-5) and Robert Lightbourn (10-9) have also clipped the 10-win mark this year.
• Evins was 10-4 at No. 6 singles, while Lightbourn went 10-7 at No. 5.
• Evins had a personal-best and team-high seven-match win streak.
• No. 1 singles player Joe Schafer has a 9-11 record and enters the tournament with 31 career singles wins.
• Senior Calum Gee won his final regular season match as a Wildcat with a 7-6, 6-3 at No. 4.
• Both Gee and Schafer teamed up to at No. 1 doubles to go 10-8. They opened the year ranked 19th in the country, first time ever a Wildcat duo had been ranked.
• Evins and Chris Mark matched Gee and Schafer with 10 doubles wins of their own. They went 8-3 at the No. 3 spot.
• Davidson went an even 29-29 in doubles action.
• Head coach Drew Barrett is in his sixth season and collected 53 wins at Davidson. He has 92 for his career.

Scouting the Wildcat Women- Quick Hits
• Davidson closed out the regular season 2-3 in its last five matches, with the wins coming against Western Carolina (6-1) and Wofford (5-2).
• The 'Cats earned 36 wins in singles action, with 15 of those coming against SoCon foes.
• Brites Moniz-Soares led the way with a 14-6 mark and was 7-3 in league matches, both tops on the team.
• The sophomore was 13-3 at No. 2 singles, tied for third-most wins in the SoCon, while she was tied for second with her .812 winning percentage.
• Moniz-Soares had a personal and team-best seven-match win streak.
• She won four of her last five singles matches in the regular season and is 7-3 in her last 10 matches overall.
• The sophomore was recently named to the All-SoCon Second Team at No. 2 singles.
• Fellow classmate Nisha Crouser was second on the team with seven wins, six more than she had all of last year in 22 matches.
• Six of her wins came at No. 3 and 4 positions.
• Senior Katharine Dicconson will be looking to close out her career in winning style as she enters the tournament with 11 career wins.
• Dicconson played a career-high 22 matches this year.
• Davidson netted 16 wins in doubles action, getting six of those against the league.
• Dicconson and Moniz-Soares went a team-best 6-5 in doubles, with five of those wins coming at No. 2.
• The Wildcats used nine different doubles combinations this year.
• Head coach Caroline Price is in her 30th year, while collecting 406 career wins at Davidson. She is a three-time SoCon Coach of the Year, with the last one coming in 2002.

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