ORANGEBURG, S.C. -  The South Carolina State men's tennis team picked up its third-straight victory with a 4-3 decision over Coastal Carolina Friday at SCSU Tennis Courts.
     South Carolina State (12-3 Overall, 3-0 MEAC) grabbed an early 1-0 lead after the Bulldogs claimed the doubles point by taking two of three matches. Junior Dmytro Kovalevych and Anton Protsenko started things with an 8-1 win over senior Alex Funkhouser and junior Danny Heidecker at No. 2 in singles action. 
       Also, posting wins were David Grund(Czech Republic) and Artemiy Nikitin(Russia) clinched the point for South Carolina State following an 8-6 win over sophomores John Karle and Yusuke Kusuda at No. 3.   
      The Bulldogs took a 2-0 lead after Protsenko defeated Heidecker 6-1, 6-2 at No. 3 singles.  South Carolina State upped its lead to 3-0 following a 6-0, 6-3 win from Nikitin(Russia) over Dorian Sovic at the No. 5 position.  
      Coastal Carolina cut the South Carolina State lead to 3-1 when freshman Leo Christofides bested  Grund 6-1, 6-1 at the No. 6 position.  Sophomore Peteris Vinogradous(Latvia) sealed the win for the Bulldogs in the following match when he earned a 7-6, 7-5 victory over Funkhouser at No. 4.   
      Gordon posted a 6-2, 6-7, 12-10 win over Meana at No. 1 before Kusuda closed the match with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Kovalevych at No. 2.
      SC State will return to action on Wednesday (April,6) when they travel to Clinton, SC to take on Presbyterian College in a 2 p.m. non-conference matchup.