CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Finishing fourth in the Southern Conference standings, the Elon University women’s tennis team will play in its final SoCon Tournament this week starting with a 1 p.m. matchup against fifth-seeded UNC Greensboro tomorrow, April 17, at the Champions Club.
TRACK THE PHOENIX: Saturday’s match can be followed online by clicking HERE for live stats.
ELON vs. UNC GREENSBORO: The Phoenix and Spartans clash tomorrow having just played each other last Thursday, April 10, in Greensboro, N.C. In the match, Elon came out with a 6-1 victory, but the Phoenix dropped the doubles point and used wins in four three-set matches in singles to earn the victory. The victory also broke the tie with UNCG for the No. 4 seed in this week’s tournament. In 16 matches all-time between Elon and UNCG, the Spartans have had the upper hand in going 12-4 against the Phoenix. Prior to beating UNC Greensboro last week, Elon’s last victory against the Spartans came in 2010—a 5-2 victory at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.
LOOKING BACK: Elon closed the regular season on a high note with a 7-0 sweep of the Western Carolina Catamounts on Saturday, April 12. The Phoenix swept the doubles point in impressive fashion, winning 8-1 on court Nos. 1 and 3 and sweeping court No. 2, 8-0. Elon continued its dominance of Western Carolina in singles while not dropping more than three games in a set on any court except No. 1. Though tested on court No. 1, Jordan Johnston was able to pull out a 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) victory over Stacia Kissell. Both players were selected to the first-team all-SoCon squad this week.
POSTSEASON AWARDS: For the third consecutive season, Johnston was selected to the first-team all-SoCon squad having gone 11-8 this season while posting a 6-3 mark in SoCon play, all from the No. 1 singles position. Elon’s other two seniors—Frida Jansaker and Bryn Khoury—were selected to the all-SoCon second team, which was selected by position. Jansaker went 14-3 this season while posting a perfect 9-0 mark in conference play while Khoury posted a 13-5 mark this season. Jansaker earned the No. 2 spot on the team while Khoury was selected to the No. 4 spot. Johnston was also selected to the all-SoCon second team in doubles with Barbora Lazarova at the No. 1 position. The two went 8-4 together while posting a 6-3 mark in conference action.
JANSAKER HONORED: In addition to her postseason awards, Jansaker was also honored this season with two awards from the Southern Conference. The senior was selected as the SoCon Player of the Week on Monday, April 14, for all matches played April 6-13 after going 4-0 in singles and doubles against UNC Greensboro and Western Carolina. She was also selected as the conference’s Student-Athlete of the Week on February 19 after helping Elon come from behind to beat UNC Wilmington. 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 Student-Athlete of the Week award this academic year.
SOCON HONORS: Both Lazarova and Johnston have been honored this season as the Southern Conference’s Player of the Week. Lazarova picked up the honor March 18 and Johnston earned the award one week later on March 25. Individually, Lazarova holds an 13-5 record this season and has a nine-match winning streak under her belt from earlier this season. Johnston finished 11-8 overall, playing all of her matches at No. 1 singles.
WINNING WAYS: After dropping its first four matches of the season, Elon went on an eight-match winning streak before having it snapped by the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on March 16. In the last two seasons, the Phoenix has had winning streaks of 11 matches, 10 matches and eight matches while only dropping 12 matches.
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. To read the full story about Ingham joining the teams, click HERE.
LOOKING AHEAD: A win tomorrow against UNC Greensboro would send Elon to the semifinals of the SoCon Tournament on Friday, April 18. There, the Phoenix would meet the winner of top-seeded Furman and 8 Davidson/9 Wofford. This season, Elon dropped a hard-fought 4-3 decision to Furman at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center on March 21, but defeated both Wofford and Davidson by way of 7-0 sweeps.