Elon Men’s Tennis Tops Defending CAA Champion UNCW 4-3

ELON, N.C. – Elon University men’s tennis put together a strong singles rally to overcome an early deficit on the way to a 4-3 win over defending CAA champion UNCW on Saturday, March 3, at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.

“I’m proud of the way our guys came back after losing the doubles point,” said Elon head coach Michael Leonard. “Our two freshmen really stepped up for us and Mario Paccini and Felipe Sarrasague were huge coming up with wins to decide the match. Both of those guys really enjoy those moments and they really came through, so I’m proud of them.”

With the win, Elon is now 6-5 on the year and has won three of its last four matches. UNCW had its six-match winning streak snapped with the loss and now stands at 6-2 on the year.

THE RUNDOWN
Trailing 3-2 with Paccini and Sarrasague still on court, Paccini opened up an early lead at No. 2 on the way to defeating Ignasi de Rueda 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 to tie the match at 3-3. Coming down to Sarrasague at No. 1, Andres Torres broke Sarrasague to take a lead, but the Phoenix junior recovered to send the match to a tiebreaker. There, Sarrasague pulled out a 7-4 victory to claim the 4-3 match victory.

Elsewhere in singles, Camilo Ponce got Elon’s first point of the day with a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 6 over Raphael Calzi and Kyle Frankel quickly followed with a 6-4, 6-4 victory at No. 3 over Agustin Savarino to give the Phoenix a 2-1 lead.

Elon opened the day dropping the doubles point. It started with Sarrasague and Salvador Mijares taking a 6-4 win at No. 2, but Paccini and Neal Port went down 7-5 at No. 1 and Ponce and Taylor Foote dropped a 7-6 (2) tiebreaker at No. 3 that allowed UNCW to take the early 1-0 lead.

UP NEXT
Elon will continue on with a five-match homestand on Saturday, March 10, with a 12 p.m. home match against Winthrop. The match was originally slated to be played in Rock Hill, S.C., but construction on Winthrop’s courts caused the match to be moved to the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.

Elon 4, UNCW 3
Singles Results

1. Felipe Sarrasague (ELON) def. Andres Torres (UNCWM) 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4)
2. Mario Paccini (ELON) def. Ignasi de Rueda (UNCWM) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4
3. Kyle Frankel (ELON) def. Agustin Savarino (UNCWM) 6-4, 6-4
4. Michael Copeland (UNCWM) def. Salvador Mijares (ELON) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3
5. Daniel Groom (UNCWM) def. Felipe Osses-Konig (ELON) 2-6, 7-5, 6-2
6. Camilo Ponce (ELON) def. Raphael Calzi (UNCWM) 6-3, 6-3

Doubles Results
1. Raphael Calzi/Ignasi de Rueda (UNCWM) def. Mario Paccini/Neal Port (ELON) 7-5
2. Felipe Sarrasague/Salvador Mijares (ELON) def. Michael Morphy/Andres Torres (UNCWM) 6-4
3. Agustin Savarino/Michael Copeland (UNCWM) def. Taylor Foote/Camilo Ponce (ELON) 7-6 (7-2)