Elon Men’s Tennis Set to Host UNC Greensboro Wednesday

ELON, N.C. – After two road matches last week, the Elon University men’s tennis team returns home tomorrow, April 2, to take on UNC Greensboro at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center in a 3 p.m. match against the Spartans.

TRACK THE PHOENIX: Keep track of tomorrow’s match online with live stats by clicking here.

ELON vs. UNC GREENSBORO: Tomorrow’s match marks the 15th time the Phoenix and Spartans will meet with the Spartans holding an 8-6 advantage. Elon won four matches in a row from 2006-2009, but the Phoenix have not topped UNC Greensboro since then with the Spartans winning five straight matches against Elon. Last season, UNC Greensboro beat Elon at home by the score of 5-2.

LOOKING BACK: The Phoenix continued their impressive run in SoCon play this season with a 7-0 sweep of Georgia Southern last week on Tuesday, March 25, in Statesboro, Ga. In the match, Elon swept all three doubles matches before sweeping singles in convincing fashion. Cameron Silverman and Stefan Fortmanneach breezed to victories on court Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, while only dropping one game throughout their match.

PHOENIX IN THE POLLS: In the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) national polls released March 18, the Phoenix checked in at No. 49 while Silverman individually sits at No. 36. Since the start of the season, Elon has jumped 15 spots in the rankings. Two weeks ago, Elon earned a program-best rank of No. 39 in the country.

TIGHT UP TOP: Entering play tomorrow, three unbeaten teams — Elon, Furman and Appalachian State — are tied at the top of the SoCon standings with UNC Greensboro lurking right behind the trio in fourth place with one loss. With three conference matches remaining after tomorrow’s tilt with UNC Greensboro, two of the matches come against Furman and Appalachian State.

SOCON PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: This season, the Southern Conference has honored five players with the league’s Player of the Week award. Four of those awards have gone to Elon players—Silverman, Kaufman and Fortmann. Silverman was the first player to win the award this year on Feb. 18. The senior has picked up wins this season against Duke’s Jason Tahir, who was ranked No. 52 in the nation individually while Duke was No. 7, in Elon’s upset of the Blue Devils on Jan. 17 and Samford’s Elliot Barnwell on two separate occasions. Kaufman went a combined 4-0 in singles and doubles throughout the two matches against Brown and Chattanooga that led to the honor on March 4. Fortmann was named the Player of the Week March 11 after breezing through singles matches against Samford and Davidson, winning each match by a score of 6-2, 6-2. He followed that up with the award a week later with winning the award again after going 3-0 for all matches played March 10-16.

KOWALSKI HONORED: Junior Brian Kowalski became the third Elon athlete throughout the 2013-2014 academic year to be named the Southern Conference Student-Athlete of the Week on Jan. 22. The honor came after Kowalski won the decisive match against No. 7 Duke, one that gave Elon the upset of the Blue Devils on Jan. 17. Nathan Dean of the men’s soccer team, Sam Coffer of the women’s basketball team andFrida Jansaker of the women’s tennis team are the other three Elon athletes to earn the award.

SOCON DOMINANCE: In five conference matches this season, Elon has only dropped one game while sweeping Chattanooga, Samford, The Citadel and Georgia Southern. Though losing a game against Davidson on March 9, the Phoenix beat the Wildcats at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center 6-1.

FRIENDS OF JACLYN: On March 9, both the men’s and women’s tennis teams held Friends of Jaclyn Day at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center to raise awareness for pediatric brain tumors. A week later, a very special guest named Jake Ingham joined the Phoenix family when the 12-year old, signed a contract with the teams. Ingham is expected to return to Elon later this season for some of the teams’ remaining home matches.

LOOKING AHEAD: Elon will embark on its final road trip of the regular season this weekend when it travels to South Carolina to take on the Furman Paladins on Saturday, April 5, before playing the Wofford Terriers on Sunday, April 6. Both matches are set for 1 p.m.