Elon Men’s Tennis Finishes Road Slate at Furman, Wofford

ELON, N.C. – The Elon University men’s tennis team will go on the road for the final time in the regular season looking to extend its winning streak to 10 matches with a trip to South Carolina to take on Furman on Saturday, April 5, and Wofford on Sunday, April 6. Both matches are scheduled for 1 p.m.

ELON vs. FURMAN: In a battle of unbeatens in conference play, Elon and Furman will battle looking to hand its opponent its first loss in Southern Conference play. In 14 matches all-time, Furman holds a 9-5 advantage on Elon, but Elon has won three of the last four contests between the two. Last season, the Phoenix swept the Paladins in the regular season, then swept them again in the SoCon Tournament.

ELON vs. WOFFORD: Elon enters Sunday’s match with the Terriers riding a six-match winning streak against Wofford and holding an 11-3 advantage in the series. Elon’s last loss to Wofford came in 2008 when the Phoenix fell 4-3. Wofford’s other two victories over the Phoenix came in 2004 and 2005 by scores of 4-3.

LOOKING BACK: Looking to put more separation between itself and UNC Greensboro in the SoCon standings, the Phoenix dispatched the Spartans by a score of 6-1. After sweeping the doubles point, Elon got wins on court Nos. 1-5 on the way to the convincing victory. The win increased Elon’s record to 6-0 in conference play while UNCG dropped to 3-2.

SOCON DOMINANCE: In six conference matches this season, Elon has only dropped two games 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. Elon beat UNC Greensboro on Wednesday, April 2, by a score of 6-1 after #Ismael Sanchez Delfin# dropped his match on No. 6 singles.

PHOENIX IN THE POLLS: In the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) national polls released April 1, the Phoenix checked in at No. 49 while #Cameron 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.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH: #Stefan Fortmann# was honored as the league’s Player of the Month yesterday, April 3, after posting a perfect 12-0 mark in both singles and doubles throughout the month of March. The junior started the month on No. 4 singles, but moved up to No. 2 as the month went along. Throughout those six matches, Fortmann has not dropped a set. The duo of Fortmann and #Juan Madrid# has not dropped more than five games in any doubles match after going undefeated for the month and only losing one doubles match since being paired with each other.

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, Fortmann and #Jordan Kaufman#. 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 and #Frida Jansaker# of the women’s tennis team are the other three Elon athletes to earn the award.

HOME SWEET HOME: In six home matches this season, Elon has not lost yet and will look to stay undefeated next week when it finishes its season against Appalachain State and East Carolina at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.

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 close the book on playing Southern Conference regular season matches Wednesday, April 9, when it takes on Appalachian State at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. The match is set for 3:30 p.m.