BURLINGTON, N.C. – For the third-straight season, Elon University men’s tennis is into the CAA Tournament Semifinals thanks to its 4-1 victory over Hofstra at the Burlington Tennis Center on Friday, April 21.
The Phoenix, now 12-11 on the season, has won four matches in a row. The No. 2 seed in the tournament, Elon will take on third-seeded William & Mary on Saturday morning. The Tribe advanced by virtue of a 4-0 win over sixth-seeded Drexel. Hofstra’s season comes to an end at 9-16.
Saturday’s match is now slated for 11:30 a.m. at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. Initially scheduled for 2 p.m., it has been pushed up due to the threat of rain in the area later in the day. It will follow the women’s tennis CAA Semifinals, which are now scheduled for 8:30 a.m., also at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. The winner will head to Sunday’s CAA Final against either top-seeded UNCW or fourth-seeded College of Charleston.
The Rundown
Elon continued its dominance in doubles of late with a pair of 6-3 victories at Nos. 1 and 2. Neal Port and Salvador Mijares won their 12th-straight match together with a win over Jan Leithner and Marcus Smith. Just seconds later, Mario Paccini and Petar Tomic finished off the point with their win over Coco Haener and Niko Vulinovich.
In singles, Felipe Osses-Konig continued his solid roll of play at No. 5 with a 6-0, 6-2 win over David Schrott to make it 2-0 Elon. Jacob Bicknell followed with another quick 6-0, 6-2 win over Nick Silvestri at No. 6. The Osses-Konig and Bicknell victories sandwiched Hofstra’s lone point coming at No. 3 when Salvador Mijares was forced to retire after the first set.
The Phoenix clinched the match at No. 1 where Felipe Sarrasague earned a 6-3, 6-2 win over Smith. He polished off the win with a break of Smith to put Elon back in the semifinals.
Notes
– Elon is now in the semifinals of its conference tournament for the fifth-straight season. Last time it missed the semis came in 2011-12 when the Phoenix lost a heartbreaker to Appalachian State in the SoCon Quarterfinals after winning in the first round over The Citadel.
– Felipe Osses-Konig has now won five of his last eight singles sets by the score of either 6-0 or 6-1.
– Four Phoenix have now won at least three singles matches in a row. Both Osses-Konig and Jacob Bicknell have won four straight and Mario Paccini and Felipe Sarrasague have won three in a row.