MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – The Elon men’s tennis team suffered its first Southern Conference loss of the year, dropping a 5-2 decision to the College of Charleston Cougars at the CofC Tennis Center on Saturday morning. The Phoenix drops to 6-8 overall and 3-1 in conference action. The Cougars remain undefeated in the SoCon at 2-0 and improve to 7-2 on the year.
Elon’s two points came from the top of its singles lineup as Cameron Silverman and Stefan Fortman remained perfect against league foes.
The home team started strong, sweeping the three doubles matches to take the early 1-0 lead. The Phoenix has continued to mix up its doubles combinations with such a youthful squad. CofC’s Tom Delme and Alon Faiman took an 8-3 win over Fortman and fellow freshman Jordan Kaufman at number two. Rookies Christopher Geaslen and Dan Sablik paired for only the second time this dual season, falling 8-4 for Brice Allanic and Crescente Lesser on court three. In the final match, the Cougars’ Kyle Parker and Mickael Trintignac handed Silverman and Eric Turner their first SoCon loss with an 8-4 victory at the top singles position.
CofC quickly moved ahead 3-0 with straight set singles wins at number five and six. The remaining four matches were tight, with Elon winning the first set in three of the final matches. After dropping his first set, Turner looked like he might force a third set and make it a very interesting finish as he took a 5-2 lead in the second set. But the senior, who has been battling injury all season, was unable to pull out the win as Parker earned the 6-3, 7-5 match-clinching win at number three.
Elon got its first point from Fortman who improved to 10-3 in dual competition with a 7-6, 7-6 defeat of Delme at number two. On court four, Lesser rebounded for a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 win against Kaufman. Silverman finished the afternoon with 7-6, 4-6, 1-0 (10-3) win against Trintignac at number one. The Phoenix sophomore and reigning league freshman of the year is 4-0 against SoCon opponents and 10-4 in dual action.
The Phoenix will continue its Spring Break road trip with a match at Georgia Southern on Monday, March 19 at 2:30 p.m.