ELON, N.C. – With its winning streak snapped last weekend, the Elon University women’s tennis team is looking to get back in the win column when it starts the home stretch of the regular season with seven Southern Conference matches tomorrow, March 21, against Furman at 2:30 p.m. and continues Saturday, March 22, against Wofford at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.
ELON vs. FURMAN: Friday’s meeting between the Phoenix and Paladins will mark the 15th match all-time between Elon and Furman with Furman holding a significant 12-2 advantage over Elon since the series started in 2004. Though starting the series on a 12-0 run, Furman’s streak ended last season in Greenville, S.C. when Elon picked up a 5-2 victory. The Phoenix topped the Paladins again a few weeks later in the SoCon Tournament on the way to the finals against College of Charleston.
ELON vs. WOFFORD: Riding an 8-0 winning streak against the Terriers, Elon enters Saturday’s 10 a.m. match looking to improve on an 8-5 overall record against Wofford. Last season on the road in Spartanburg, S.C., Elon topped Wofford 5-2 on April 6.
LOOKING BACK: The Phoenix had its eight-match winning streak snapped last time out in Winston-Salem, N.C. against Wake Forest. In the match, Elon had chances to clinch the doubles point after court Nos. 2 and 3 split to put the pressure on court No. 1. #Jordan Johnston# and #Barbora Lazarova# led 7-6 on serve, but Xue Zhang and Kasey Gardiner got a break of the Elon duo, then went on to win the tiebreaker to set the wheels in motion for the Demon Deacons. Lazarova was the only Elon player to pick up a singles win in the 6-1 loss with a win on court No. 3.
WINNING WAYS: After dropping its first four matches of the season, Elon went on an eight-match winning streak before having it snapped against the Demon Deacons. In the last two seasons, the Phoenix has had winning streaks of 11 matches, 10 matches and eight matches with a chance to start another lengthy streak this weekend against Furman.
FRIENDLY CONFINES: Dating back to the start of the 2013 spring season, Elon holds a 16-3 record at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. Its last loss at home came March 14, 2013, against UNC Greensboro. This season, Elon has a perfect 6-0 mark at home.
LAZAROVA HONORED: Lazarova became the first Elon player to win the SoCon Player of the Week this week on March 18 for all matches played March 10-16. Though Elon went 2-1 throughout the week against Gardner-Webb, Davidson and Wake Forest, Lazarova went 3-0 with dominant singles wins. The junior earned a 6-0, 6-0 sweep of Jenny Lunde of Gardner-Webb, then picked up a 6-1, 6-2 win in conference action against Davidson’s Nisha Crouser before winning Elon’s only point a day later against Wake Forest’s Samantha Asch. This season, Lazarova holds a 10-1 overall singles record.
JANSAKER HONORED: Jansaker became the fourth Elon athlete throughout the 2013-2014 academic year to be named the Southern Conference Student-Athlete of the Week on Feb. 19. The honor came after Jansaker won her doubles match against UNC Wilmington Feb. 17 before helping Elon come from behind against the Seahawks to win the match with a victory at No. 2 singles. #Nathan Dean# of the men’s soccer team, #Sam Coffer# of the women’s basketball team and #Brian Kowalski# of the men’s tennis team are the other three Elon athletes to earn the award this year.
LOOKING AHEAD: Following Saturday’s match against Wofford, the Phoenix will hit the road for four SoCon matches starting Tuesday, April 1, in Boone, N.C. against Appalachian State. The match against the Mountaineers is set for 3 p.m.