49ers insider: Charlotte men’s tennis team on a hot streak

The Charlotte 49ers men’s tennis team has put together a nine-match winning this season, including a victory over visiting East Carolina on March 27.

Down 3-0 in the match, Charlotte won four singles matches – all of them in either three sets or in two sets with a tiebreaker – to claim its eighth consecutive win.

After a 6-1 victory over College of Charleston on March 29, the 49ers were 13-2 overall and on its way to the team’s best record in coach Billy Boykin’s five seasons.

It’s the best start in school history, and the school-record winning streak is 10 matches set in 1979.

Charlotte finishes the regular season with matches against Davidson and Appalachian State on April 7 and 10, respectively. The 49ers will play in the Conference USA tournament April 17-19 in Norfolk, Va.

“I think there’s a tremendous amount of parity (in the league),” said Boykin. “We have eight teams competing. … You could lose a squeaker in the first round or squeeze past someone and end up winning the entire tournament.”

C-USA does not play a full regular season schedule, unless teams schedule their own matches with league rivals. As of March 29, Charlotte had the second best overall record among C-USA teams.

Old Dominion’s 12-1 mark was best. The Monarchs are ranked 61st in the country and University of Texas at San Antonio (12-7) was ranked 74th.

The 49ers are trying to win the team’s conference tournament and reach the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2007. Charlotte has a senior-laden team. Five of its top six singles players are seniors.

Junior Jordi Massallé Ferrer, fresh off a C-USA Player of the Week honor for the week of March 24, improved his singles record to 24-2, including the fall tournament season. He is 14-0 in dual matches this spring, playing mostly at Nos. 2 and 3.

Two of the top six players have missed significant action because of injury. No. 1 singles player Forrest Edwards missed five matches after rolling an ankle against Gardner-Webb on March 9.

Kamil Khalil, playing mostly Nos. 2 and 3, competed against Wake Forest on Jan. 17 but did not play again until Feb. 28 against Alabama-Birmingham because of a sore elbow. Senior Nate Shanok was among the players to step in to the starting lineup in Edwards and Khalil’s absences.

“We have some depth, which is very unusual,” said senior Paul Cisti, who has played most of his matches at Nos. 5 and 6. “I think we’re really clicking as teammates. We support each other really hard. I think we’re more mature in the way we approach things. We’re calmer.”

Senior Jack Williams and junior Vikram Hundal, who transferred from Georgia Teach this year, have formed Charlotte’s doubles team. They are 14-7 for the year, including 8-4 in dual matches.

Williams and Hundal played for rival high schools in Alpharetta, Ga., and they competed in some of the same junior tournaments.

“We’re doing pretty well,” said Williams. “We complement each other. We’re both very aggressive and come to the net to put pressure on opponents. We’re decent volleying so we can win points when we get to the net.”

Williams and Hundal registered the 49ers’ biggest doubles victory this season when they defeated Wake Forest’s Christian Seraphim and Skander Mansouri, who have been ranked in the top 10 nationally.

“We knew they were one of the best teams in the nation,” said Hundal. “We had a lot of energy. It’s given us confidence for the rest of the season.”

Hundal has played most of his singles matches near the top of the lineup while Williams is mostly in the lower tier. Charlotte native Alex Calott (Ardrey Kell High) is the team’s other senior and is solid at No. 4 singles.

Charlotte’s only team losses have been to Wake Forest, ranked 12th nationally, and No. 4 Duke.

This story was originally published March 31, 2015 at 1:00 PM with the headline "49ers insider: Charlotte men’s tennis team on a hot streak."