Elon Sweeps Women’s Tennis Doubleheader on Kids’ Day

ELON, N.C. – The Elon University women’s tennis team completed a doubleheader sweep on Saturday, March 11, with a 5-0 victory against North Carolina Central in the morning, followed by a 6-1 win against Washington and Lee in the afternoon at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. Between both matches, the team hosted Kids’ Day, which included a free tennis clinic, a bounce house, and free prizes.

MATCH ONE RESULTS | MATCH TWO RESULTS

Elon improves to 12-5 with the victories and is a perfect 7-0 at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center this season. Erica Braschi and Olivia Lucas led the way with a perfect 3-0 slate in singles and doubles combined. Natalia Janowicz and Sofia Edo also contributed as each recorded a 3-1 mark, highlighted by two singles victories during the doubleheader.

Elon 5, North Carolina Central 0
Edo and Janowicz, playing their first match of the season together in doubles, began doubles play with a 6-1 victory on court No. 3. Lucas and Braschi clinched the point for the Phoenix with a 6-2 victory over Jasmine Gabriel and Tamara Jeremic.

Janowicz’s 6-0, 6-0 victory on court No. 2 over Lauren Mullis gave Elon a 2-0 lead. Kirsten Ward followed with a 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 3 singles to make it 3-0.

Maria Paraja clinched the deciding fourth point by dispatching Jasmine Gabriel 6-0, 6-2 on court No. 2. Sofia Edo’s 6-0, 6-0 sweep of Emily Pena at No. 5 singles made it 5-0 after the match had been decided.

Suzanne Zenoni and Alex Koniaev both led their respective matches in the second set, but went unfinished.

Elon 6, Washington and Lee 1
Lucas and Braschi started things off on court two, winning 6-3 and earning Elon’s only victory in doubles play.

On court one, Koniaev and Maria Paraja fought back from a 0-3 deficit to pull within one at 3-4, but unfortunately couldn’t complete the comeback and fell 6-3.

Janowicz and Edo played tough until the very end on court three, also coming back from 0-3 to eventually lead 4-3. The General’s didn’t back down though, fighting to secure the point with a 7-5 win.

Elon bounced back strong in singles play, wining the first set on all six courts. Janowicz was the first to close things out, winning 6-4, 6-1 on court six. Koniaev followed on court four with a 6-4, 6-1 victory of her own, giving Elon a 2-1 lead.

The lead grew to 3-1 when Lucas shut down her opposition in the number two positon 6-2, 6-4 while extending her singles winning streak to four matches.

Paraja clinched the match and the doubleheader sweep for Elon on court three with her 6-2, 6-4 victory, bringing the score to a commanding 4-1.

The final two singles matches of the afternoon were both thrillers as Edo closed out first on court five with a 6-4, 7-5 victory, followed by Braschi on court one, who stormed back from a 2-5 deficit in the second set to win in a tiebreak 6-1, 7-6 (7-5). Both matches kept the Phoenix undefeated in singles on the day and brought the second match’s final score to 6-1.

UP NEXT
Elon’s match on Sunday against Winthrop has been moved to a 2 p.m. start time. The matchup between the Phoenix and the Eagles at Jimmy Powell Tennis Center will be the eighth all-time meeting.