Elon Women’s Tennis Defeats College of Charleston on Senior Day

ELON, N.C. – The Elon University women’s tennis team honored senior Natalia Janowicz before Saturday’s match and the Phoenix improved its home record to 11-1 overall defeating College of Charleston 5-2 on April 8, at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.

FINAL RESULTS

After the Phoenix took the doubles point, Elon took four of six singles matches and Alex Koniaev clinched a maroon and gold victory at No. 5 singles. Erica Braschi also extended her singles winning streak to four matches, the longest winning streak on the team.

“It was great to honor Natalia [Janowicz] before today’s match and have her whole family here,” said head coach Elizabeth Anderson. “We are proud of everything she has done for our program. Our team competed very well today against a very good College of Charleston team. I was especially pleased with our great start winning the doubles point. This is a big win for us and we hope to continue the momentum moving into the final stretch of the regular season.”

Elon improves to 15-7 overall and 11-1 at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center this season. College of Charleston falls to 14-8 on the year with the loss.

THE RUNDOWN
Janowicz and Maria Paraja opened up doubles action cruising to a 6-1 victory on court one, the third doubles win of the season for the pairing. The final two doubles matches would each be decided by 7-5 scores on courts two and three. Christi Woodson and Turner Yates claimed court three for the Cougars to tie up the doubles point.

Olivia Lucas and Braschi would grind out a tough match at No. 2 winning 7-5 to clinch the doubles point for the Phoenix. The Elon duo is now 12-6 in doubles action this season and have won seven of their last 10 matches.

Kirsten Ward got things started in singles action cruising to a 6-0, 6-2 victory against Rachel McNeely for her 10th dual match win of the season. Lucas followed with a 6-1, 6-2 win at court two against Woodson to put Elon ahead 3-1 in the match.

Koniaev clinched the match for the Phoenix on court five with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Anastasia Palaska for her 10th singles win of the spring. Braschi closed out her match just seconds later with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Liza Fieldsend to extend Elon’s lead, 5-1.

Sofia Edo attempted to force a third-set tiebreaker at No. 6 after falling in her first set 6-4. She was able to bring her second-set deficit to 4-3 after trailing 4-1, but Helena Nyikos would prevail with a 6-3 win.

NOTES
– The Phoenix improved to 11-1 at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center this season with the win against the Cougars.
– Both Alex Koniaev and Kirsten Ward earned their 10th singles victories of the spring season against College of Charleston.
– Erica Braschi improved to 13-7 in singles play this spring and earned her fourth straight win, the longest active streak on the Phoenix squad.
– The 5-2 win tied the largest margin of victory for an Elon squad against College of Charleston in the program’s Division I era. The previous 5-2 victory came during the 2013 season.
– College of Charleston still leads the all-time series 13-3, but the Phoenix has now won two straight against the Cougars.

UP NEXT
The Phoenix returns to the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center on Wednesday, April 12, to host Appalachian State as part of a men’s and women’s doubleheader starting at 3 p.m.