Elon Women’s Tennis Falls to Richmond in Greensboro

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Elon University women’s tennis fell to the Richmond Spiders 4-2 on Saturday afternoon, April 7, at the Starmount Country Club.

RESULTS

The Phoenix (12-11) was able to tie up the match twice after losing the doubles point. However, the Spiders (4-10) got a win from Kiana Marshall on court two and Adrienne Haynes clinched the victory for Richmond.

Maria Paraja and Suzanne Zenoni were the highlights for the Phoenix as they each won their respective singles matches.

HIGHLIGHTS
Richmond took an early 1-0 lead as they clinched the doubles point with wins on courts one and three. Dessi Zlateva and Lea Owens claimed a 6-1 win at No. 3, which was followed by Emily Dunbar and Kiana Marshall’s doubles-clinching 6-2 win on the top court. The doubles match at No. 2 went unfinished since the point was already clinched.

Suzanne Zenoni leveled the match at 1-1 as she cruised to a 6-4, 6-4 victory at the No. 3 singles position. The Spiders responded to retake the lead, 2-1, after Dunbar squeaked past Olivia Lucas in two sets. After falling in the first set 6-2, Lucas battled back from a 5-4 deficit to force a tiebreaker, but could not force a third set falling in the second, 7-6 (9-7).

Maria Paraja faced a 5-2 deficit in her first set and came back to even the score 5-5 before falling 7-5. She bounced back with victories in two straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, winning at the No. 4 position and tying the match 2-2 with three singles matches to play.

Braschi trailed 5-4 in her first set, but then won three straight games to win the set 7-5. However, Marshall responded with a 6-1 win in the second and rallied from a 5-4 deficit in the third and final set to win 7-5, giving the Spiders a 3-2 lead in the match.

Haynes would then clinch the match for the Spiders, defeating Ward in straight sets 6-2, 6-2, to give Richmond a 4-2 lead. Alex Koniaev’s contest at the No. 5 position went unfinished since the match was already clinched.

UP NEXT
The Phoenix returns to the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center on Sunday, April 8, at 1 p.m. to host Charleston Southern on Senior Day. Elon will recognize its three-member senior class of Erica Braschi, Olivia Lucas and Kirsten Ward before the match. The Senior Day ceremonies will begin at 12:20 p.m.