Silverman Falls in First Round of NCAA Men’s Tennis Tournament

ATHENS, Ga. – Cameron Silverman of the Elon University men’s tennis team stuck with Florent Diep, a member of the Florida Gators’ men’s tennis team, in the first round of the NCAA Singles Championship today, May 21, but Silverman’s career at Elon ended with a 6-7, 6-1, 7-6 loss at the Dan Magill Tennis Center.

Silverman finishes the 2014 season with a mark of 17-6. The senior was ranked in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) national rankings all season and finishes his Elon career with 62 victories, which will place him second on the all-time list behind former standout Damon Gooch. Gooch set the record of 64 in 2009.

Aside from the second set, Silverman and Diep battled neck-and-neck, as evident of the first and third sets going to tiebreakers.

Diep, the 51st-ranked player in the nation, proved to be too strong, though, as the senior from Paris, France, held Silverman, the No. 36 player in the nation, off in a tiebreaker.

Silverman leaves Elon as one of the most decorated tennis players the program has seen. After winning the Southern Conference Player of the Year award on April 14 for the second straight year, he became the first player at Elon to win the award multiple times and the first player in the conference to earn the honor in back-to-back seasons since Or Dekel of College of Charleston did it in 2006 and 2007.

The senior was also named to the first-team all-SoCon singles and doubles squads each of the last two seasons while helping Elon to three SoCon regular season titles and a SoCon Tournament championship this season.

Result
NCAA Singles Championship First Round
Diep (UF) def. Silverman (ELON), 6-7, 6-1, 7-6