Elon Men’s Tennis Sweeps Chattanooga, Advances to SoCon Semifinals

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The top-seeded Elon University men’s tennis team defeated No. 9 Chattanooga today, April 17, in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference Tournament by the score of 4-0 at the Champions Club.

With the win, Elon advances to tomorrow’s 10 a.m. semifinal matchup with fourth-seeded Appalachian State. The Mountaineers advanced to the semifinals against Elon with a come-from-behind 4-2 victory over the fifth-seeded Samford Bulldogs.

The win over Chattanooga also marks the ninth year in a row Elon has won at least one match in the SoCon Tournament. Last time the Phoenix failed to win a match in the tournament was in 2005 when Elon lost its opening match to Georgia Southern.

#Juan Madrid# clinched the match for the Phoenix with a 6-4, 6-1 victory on court No. 6 against Chattanooga’s Derrick Brown. The junior was set up by a 6-3, 6-1 victory from #Cameron Silverman# on court No. 1 over Pavels Grigorjevs and a 6-3, 6-3 win by #Jordan Kaufman# on court No. 5 over John Peacey.

Though the remaining three matches didn’t finish, Elon had a lead or was tied on each of the three courts. #Stefan Fortmann# led 2-1 in the second set after taking his first set from Jorge Varon on court No. 2 while #Robert Lindgren# cruised to a 6-2 victory in his first set before taking an early 2-1 lead in the second set.

#Brian Kowalski was the only Elon player to drop his first set, as the junior fell 4-6 before breezing to a 6-1 victory in the second set. His third set against Gino Delavalle never started because Elon clinched the match victory.

The Phoenix got off to a good start to the day in doubles to claim an early 1-0 advantage as Fortmann and Madrid topped Peacey and Delavalle on court No. 3 to run their season record together this season to 12-0 while going 10-0 in SoCon play. They were followed by Lindgren and Kowalski, who clinched the doubles point for the Phoenix with an 8-3 win over Brown and Austin Boaz.

Tennis Match Results
Chattanooga vs Elon
Apr 17, 2014 at Chattanooga, Tenn.
(Champions Club)
#54 Elon 4, Chattanooga 0

Singles competition
1. #41 Cameron Silverman (ELON) def. Pavels Grigorjevs (UTC) 6-3, 6-1
2. Stefan Fortmann (ELON) vs. Jorge Varon (UTC) 6-4, 2-1, unfinished
3. Robert Lindgren (ELON) vs. Luke Saunders (UTC) 6-2, 3-1, unfinished
4. Brian Kowalski (ELON) vs. Gino Delavalle (UTC) 4-6, 6-1, unfinished
5. Jordan Kaufman (ELON) def. John Peacey (UTC) 6-3, 6-3
6. Juan Madrid (ELON) def. Derrick Brown (UTC) 6-4, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. Cameron Silverman/Jordan Kaufman (ELON) vs. Pavels Grigorjevs/Jorge Varon (UTC) 6-4, unfinished
2. Brian Kowalski/Robert Lindgren (ELON) def. Austin Boaz/Derrick Brown (UTC) 8-3
3. Stefan Fortmann/Juan Madrid (ELON) def. John Peacey/Gino Delavalle (UTC) 8-1

Match Notes:
Chattanooga 7-14
Elon 17-4; National ranking #54
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (5,1,6)