Elon Men’s Tennis Finishes SoCon Schedule Against Appalachian State

ELON, N.C. – Riding an 11-match winning streak, the Elon University men’s tennis team goes for its second Southern Conference regular season title in a row and fifth championship in nine years tomorrow, April 9, in a 3:30 p.m. match against Appalachian State at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.

With a win, the Phoenix will lock up its second perfect conference season in program history. Elon went 9-0 in conference during head coach Michael Leonard’s third season at the helm of the program in 2007 on the way to a NCAA Tournament berth.

TRACK THE PHOENIX: Wednesday’s match can be followed online by clicking HERE for live stats.

ELON vs. APPALACHIAN STATE: Wednesday’s match marks the 16th time the Phoenix and Mountaineers will battle since the 2001 season. Overall, Elon holds an 11-4 record against Appalachian State, including beating the Mountaineers last season in Boone, N.C. by the score of 6-1. However, in 2012, Appalachian State won both meetings with the Phoenix.

LOOKING BACK: On the tail end of a weekend road trip to South Carolina against Furman and Wofford, Elon topped the Terriers on Sunday, April 6, by a score of 5-2 to clinch a share of the regular season title. The Phoenix can take the title outright with a win against Appalachian State. In the match, Stefan Fortmann picked up his eigth-straight singles victory since the start of March, but the junior was taken three sets for the first time during the stretch.

PHOENIX IN THE POLLS: In the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) national polls released today, April 8, the Phoenix checked in at No. 44 while Silverman individually sits at No. 35. Since the start of the season, Elon has jumped 20 spots in the rankings. Three weeks ago, Elon earned a program-best rank of No. 39 in the country. For the full ITA rankings, click here.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH: Fortmann was honored as the league’s Player of the Month last week, April 3, after posting a perfect 13-0 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 did not drop a set. The duo of Fortmann and Juan Madrid did not drop 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. Fortmann has continued his streak, as he has not dropped a singles or doubles match in three April outings.

SOCON PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: This season, the Southern Conference has honored eight players with the league’s Player of the Week award. Four of those awards have gone to Elon players—Silverman, Jordan 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 staying perfect in 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 Elon’s three other athletes to earn the award.

SOCON DOMINANCE: In eight conference matches this season, Elon has only dropped five games while sweeping Chattanooga, Samford, The Citadel and Georgia Southern. Wofford is the only team this season in the conference to earn more than one point in a match against the Phoenix.

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 closes out the 2014 regular season Saturday, April 12, at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center against in-state rival East Carolina. The Phoenix will hold Senior Day to honor the team’s lone senior, Cameron Silverman. The match is set for 1 p.m.