ELON, N.C. – The Elon University men’s tennis team stayed unbeaten in Southern Conference play Saturday afternoon, March 8, and picked up its third straight victory with a 7-0 win against the Samford Bulldogs at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.
“This really is a great win for us,” said junior Stefan Fortmann. “We’ve got some history with Samford with the loss in the SoCon finals last year and that was definitely playing on our minds. We definitely wanted to come out strong a play a good match all around and I think the score shows it was a good result for us today.”
Juan Madrid clinched the win for the Phoenix on court No. 6 with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Liam Sullivan. He followed Fortmann by a matter of seconds, who beat Trey Carter 6-2, 6-2 on court No. 4.
Both players used momentum in their singles matches gained from the doubles match the two played against Austin Akers and Fares Kilani. Fortmann and Madrid used back-to-back breaks late in the set to earn an 8-5 win on court No. 3 that got Elon halfway to winning the doubles point.
The Phoenix polished off the doubles point with a win on court No. 1 from Cameron Silverman and Jordan Kaufman. The duo used early breaks to go up 6-1 on Carter and Henry Moore, then held on for the 8-4 victory to put Elon up 1-0.
Kaufman also used the momentum gained in his doubles match on singles court No. 5 against Moore, as the junior was the first Elon player off the court with a 6-4, 6-2 win.
Elon finished the sweep of the Bulldogs with wins from Silverman, Robert Lindgren and Brian Kowalski on court Nos. 1, 2 and 3, respectively. Silverman, the 26th-ranked player in the country, beat Elliot Barnwell by coming from behind after dropping the first set, 3-6, to win the last two sets both by scores of 6-2.
Lindgren took a 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 win on court No. 2 over Kilani. The sophomore got a break of Kilani to finish off the match.
Kowalski also needed to come from behind against Akers on court No. 3 as the junior quickly dropped the first set, 2-6, before winning the second set handedly, 6-1, and the super tiebreaker 10-2.
“The coaching staff got out here at 8 a.m. to get the ice off the courts,” said volunteer assistant coach John Collins. “There was about two feet of ice on the back fence and we got it ready to go. We told the guys, ‘Hey, lets get after it” and the result is very rewarding.”
Elon returns to the courts tomorrow, March 9, against the Davidson Wildcats. The match is set for 1 p.m. at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.
Results
No. 46 Elon 7, Samford 0
Singles
1. No. 26 Cameron Silverman (ELON) def. Elliot Barnwell (SAM), 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
2. Robert Lindgren (ELON) def. Fares Kilani (SAM), 7-6 (7-3), 6-4
3. Brian Kowalski (ELON) def. Austin Akers (SAM), 2-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-2)
4. Stefan Fortmann (ELON) def. Trey Carter (SAM), 6-2, 6-2
5. Jordan Kaufman (ELON) def. Henry Moore (SAM), 6-4, 6-2
6. Juan Madrid (ELON) def. Liam Sullivan (SAM), 6-1, 6-1
Doubles
1. Cameron Silverman/Jordan Kaufman (ELON) def. Trey Carter/Henry Moore (SAM), 8-4
2. Elliot Barnwell/Liam Sullivan (SAM) def. Brian Kowalski/Robert Lindgren (ELON), 8-7 (7-5)
3. Stefan Fortmann/Juan Madrid (ELON) def. Austin Akers/Fares Kilani (SAM), 8-5