ELON, N.C. – The Elon University women’s tennis team swept through doubles and had a strong showing in singles play to earn a 5-2 victory over James Madison in its regular season finale on Saturday, April 15, at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.
After a clean sweep in doubles action, the Phoenix earned three straight singles victories and Kirsten Ward clinched the win on court four to help Elon improve to 13-1 at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center this season.
“I’m really proud of how hard our team competed today against a talented James Madison team,” said head coach Elizabeth Anderson. “We came out strong in doubles and brought that momentum into singles play. Now we will turn our focus to hosting the CAA tournament next weekend. The team has prepared all season for the tournament and we are excited to play and compete against a very strong field.”
Elon finishes the regular season with a 17-7 overall record after the win, while James Madison falls to 15-7 on the year with the loss.
THE RUNDOWN
Suzanne Zenoni and Ward got things started in doubles action with a 6-3 victory at the No. 3 position. Olivia Lucas and Erica Braschi clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 win at No. 2 for their 14th victory of the season. Natalia Janowicz and Maria Paraja completed the doubles sweep with their 6-1 defeat of Timea Guibe and Kimmy Herrock at No. 1 and the Phoenix went into singles with a 1-0 lead.
The Phoenix took the first singles match on court three as Zenoni earned a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Herrock to make it a 2-0 Elon lead. She was followed by Lucas as she defeated Emma Peterson 6-3, 6-3 to give the Phoenix a 3-0 advantage.
Ward came through at the No. 4 singles position to clinch the match, defeating Jona Roka 6-3, 6-4 making it a 4-0 lead for the maroon and gold.
Rebecca Harris was the first of the Dukes to get James Madison on the board on court six with her 6-1, 6-4 victory over Alex Koniaev. Maria Paraja improved her team-best singles record defeating Dylan Owens 6-3, 7-5 on court five as she moved to 16-6 overall in dual match singles play this season.
Braschi had her five-match winning streak snapped at the No. 1 position in an epic third-set tiebreaker as she fell to Guibe, 7-6 (7-2), 4-6, 10-8. She battled back with a second set victory after dropping her first set. However, Guibe battled back from a 6-2 deficit in the tiebreaker to defeat Braschi.
NOTES
– The Phoenix finished the regular season with a 13-1 record at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. Elon also finished 3-0 at home against CAA teams, defeating James Madison, College of Charleston and Towson.
– Maria Paraja improved her singles mark to a team-best 16-6 overall. She has also won a team-high five straight matches.
– Olivia Lucas won her fourth straight singles match at the No. 2 position. She has now won eight of her last 10 matches and owns a 14-6 record.
– The maroon and gold finished with a season record of 4-1 against CAA teams. Elon’s lone loss came on Jan. 22 against William & Mary.
UP NEXT
Elon will host the 2017 CAA Championship from Thursday, April 20, to Sunday, April 23. Matches will take place at both the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center and the Burlington Tennis Center. The tournament seeds will be announced early next week.