Elon Men’s Tennis to Face Appalachian State in SoCon Semis

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – After today’s 4-0 victory over ninth-seeded Chattanooga, the Elon University men’s tennis team will take on fourth-seeded Appalachian State tomorrow, April 18, in a 10 a.m. match at the Champions Club.

LOOKING BACK: Elon swept Chattanooga this morning in style, winning each of the doubles matches before winning three straight singles matches to clinch the victory in just over two hours. In the match, Jordan Kaufman defeated John Peacey on court No. 5 to give Elon a 2-0 lead after the Phoenix previously clinched the doubles point. He was followed by senior Cameron Silverman, who beat Pavels Grigorjevs on court No. 1 by a score of 6-3, 6-1. Juan Madrid finished the match with a 6-4, 6-1 win on court No. 6 over Derrick Brown.

Earlier in the match, Madrid and Stefan Fortmann improved their doubles record to 12-0 and 10-0 in conference play since being paired together. Silverman, the 41st-ranked player in the nation, won his 60thcareer match at Elon, pulling him four from tying the program mark of 64, which was set in 2009 by former standout Damon Gooch.

ELON vs. APPALACHIAN STATE: Tomorrow’s match marks the second match between the Phoenix and Mountaineers in nine days, as Elon and Appalachian State met last week on April 9. In the match, Elon clinched the SoCon regular season title for the second season in a row with a 6-1 victory over the Mountaineers. Tomorrow’s meeting will be the 17th all-time between the two programs with Elon leading the series 12-4.

SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS: As the No. 4 seed in the tournament, Appalachian State reached the semifinals with a 4-2 victory over the fifth-seeded Samford Bulldogs today. In the match, the Mountaineers needed four singles victories to advance in the tournament after dropping the doubles point. Though dropping his first set on court No. 1, Sebastien King clinched the match in a three-set thriller over Elliot Barnwell to win the match for Appalachian State.

This season, Appalachian State is 10-12 and 6-3 in conference play. But, the Mountaineers stumbled into the SoCon Tournament having dropped four of their last six matches. Appalachian State also started the SoCon season 4-0 before stumbling to a 2-3 record the rest of the way.

LOOKING AHEAD: Should Elon beat Appalachian State tomorrow morning, the Phoenix will reach the finals for the sixth time in the last eight seasons. Though having a two-year hiatus from 2011-2012, Elon has been in the SoCon Tournament finals every year since 2007, but has only won the title once (2007).