Elon Men’s Tennis Claims Numerous Postseason CAA Honors

RICHMOND, Va. – Elon University men’s tennis placed numerous student-athletes on the postseason All-CAA teams released Tuesday, May 2. In all, the Phoenix placed three singles players and two doubles duos on the All-Conference teams, helping to set the high mark in both singles and doubles for the CAA this year.

For the second year in a row, Felipe Sarrasague was tabbed a First Team All-CAA Singles performer while Chris Humphreys and Petar Tomic garnered First Team All-CAA doubles recognitions, also for the second straight year. Salvador Mijares and Mario Paccini both were named Second Team All-CAA Singles players, marking the first time on the All-CAA teams for Mijares and the second year Paccini has made the list. Mijares and Neal Port also made Second Team All-CAA Doubles after going 14-2 this season between Nos. 2 and 3. Additionally, Tomic represents Elon on the CAA All-Academic Team, which is made up of one student-athlete from each team.

Elon’s three individuals on the singles teams tied UNCW – the No. 1 seed in the CAA Tournament – for the most in the conference. Both College of Charleston and William & Mary put two on the All-CAA Singles teams with Charleston’s two honorees both First Team award winners. In doubles, Elon’s two teams tied UNCW for the most in the league, but both the Seahawk duos were Second Team honorees. James Madison, College of Charleston and William & Mary each had one doubles team recognized.

Sarrasague posted a 15-7 record this spring – all at No. 1 singles – to lead Elon in singles wins. Though posting a 2-4 record in his first six matches of the year, the sophomore came alive in Elon’s first home match of the season on Feb. 8 against Liberty and went on a 10-1 run, ultimately finishing the year on a 13-3 stretch that paced the Phoenix after the team’s 1-5 start. Twice named the CAA Player of the Week, Sarrasague’s season was highlighted by a come-from-behind, 3-6, 6-4, 1-0 (8) win over Jack Findel-Hawkins of North Florida, who was ranked No. 64 in the country at the time of the match in March. Against CAA foes, he went 4-1 with the lone loss coming in the CAA Semifinals to CAA Player of the Year Aidan Talcott of William & Mary.

Seeing time at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles, Humphreys and Tomic earned multiple big wins for the Phoenix in helping Elon to a 14-9 doubles record. Though the Phoenix started slow in doubles by opening the year 2-4, it responded nicely by winning 12 of 16 doubles points from mid-February through the CAA Quarterfinals against Hofstra. During that stretch, the two went 6-5 with key wins over William & Mary’s Tristan Bautil and Addison Appleby, James Madison’s Theophile Lanthiez and Paul Mendoza and College of Charleston’s Juan Estevarena and Vasily Kichigin. Humphreys and Tomic were honored twice with CAA Doubles Team of the Week honors, taking the award in back-to-back weeks on Feb. 15 and Feb. 22.

Posting an even 12-12 record on the season, Mijares played everywhere from No. 1 to No. 4 singles, spending most of his time at Nos. 2 and 3. Between the two spots, he went 12-10 and ended his sophomore campaign winning four of the last five matches. Against CAA foes, Mijares went 3-2, topping William & Mary’s Addison Appleby twice, the second time representing Elon’s only point in the CAA Semifinal loss to the Tribe.

Though missing a portion of the regular season, Paccini played a big role down the stretch in Elon’s strong finish to the campaign. Going 6-6 on the year, Paccini suffered an injury in mid-February and did not return to action until the first week of April. Though losing his first match back in three sets, he went on to win each of his final three matches of the regular season and put up two fights in the CAA Tournament with both going unfinished even though he had won first sets on both occasions. His sophomore campaign followed a 2016 season in which he was recognized as a First Team All-CAA honoree, making Paccini and Sarrasague the only two Elon players on the team to have been recognized as All-CAA Singles honorees each of the last two years.

Port and Mijares proved to be Elon’s most consistent doubles duo throughout the season, posting a 14-2 record and winning each of their last 13 matches together after starting the campaign 1-2. Opening the year at No. 3 and posting an 8-2 record, Port and Mijares moved up to No. 2 and didn’t miss a beat in going 6-0. In the opening match of the year at Duke, the duo helped Elon win the doubles point over the Blue Devils by winning a 7-6 (3) match at No. 3 against Jason Lapidus and TJ Pura. Port and Mijares opened the season ranked nationally, but fell out following the slow start.

Coming off a year in which he was named the ITA Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Tomic followed it up with CAA All-Academic Team honors. The finance major played a big role on the court at Nos. 3 and 4, earning nine wins on the year with four come-from-behind, three-set wins. Back on March 16 against College of Charleston, Tomic dropped his first set 1-6 against Kichigin before rebounding to claim a 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory over the Cougars’ No. 3 singles player, earning him CAA Player of the Week.

Elon’s season came to a close at 12-12 after falling in the CAA Semifinals to William & Mary. The Phoenix posted three wins in a row to close the regular season and matched its season-long winning streak at four with its quarterfinal victory over Hofstra. Elon advanced to the CAA Semifinals for the third-straight year and its conference tournament semifinals for the fifth consecutive season, but it couldn’t get over the hump in the loss to the Tribe.

2017 All-CAA Men’s Tennis Teams
First Team
Singles
Juan Estevarena, Col. of Charleston
Benedidt Henning, Col. of Charleston
Felipe Sarrasague, Elon
Agustin Savarino, UNCW
Aidan Talcott, William & Mary
Andres Torres, UNCW

Doubles
Rodrigo Encinas, Col. of Charleston
Juan Estevarena, Col. of Charleston
Chris Humphreys, Elon
Petar Tomic, Elon
Christian Cargill, William & Mary
Ryan Newman, William & Mary

Second Team
Singles
Christian Cargill, William & Mary
Ignasi de Rueda, UNCW
Hamza Laalej, Drexel
Salvador Mijares, Elon
Mario Paccini, Elon
Damon Roberts, James Madison

Doubles
Ignasi de Rueda, UNCW
Agustin Savarino, UNCW
Salvador Mijares, Elon
Neal Port, Elon
Andres Torres, UNCW
Michael Morphy, UNCW
Theophile Lanthiez, James Madison
Paul Mendoza, James Madison

2017 CAA Men’s Tennis Player of the Year: Aidan Talcott, William & Mary
2017 CAA Men’s Tennis Co-Rookies of the Year: Ignasi de Rueda, UNCW and Damon Roberts, James Madison
2017 CAA Men’s Tennis Coach of the Year: Mait DuBois, UNCW

All-Academic Team
Blaise Casselbury, Delaware
Lars de Boer, William & Mary
Rodrigo Encinas, Col. of Charleston
Josh Hublitz, UNCW
Balaji Lakshmanan, Drexel
Sebastian Salinas, James Madison
Petar Tomic, Elon
Niko Vulinovich, Hofstra