CHARLESTON, S.C. – Phoenix captain Damon Gooch, Mason Schermerhorn and Chase Helpingstine all recorded singles wins as second-seeded Elon dispatched third-seeded Wofford 4-1 in a 2008 Southern Conference Men’s Tennis Championship semifinal showdown Saturday afternoon at the Earle Tennis Center on The Citadel campus.
Gooch, a three-time First Team All-SoCon honoree in both singles and doubles, foiled fellow First Team All-SoCon selection Andrew Stubbs 6-2, 6-3 at No. 1, Schermerhorn ousted Alan Donald 6-3, 6-1 at No. 3 and Helpingstine toppled Christopher Williams 6-1, 6-0 at No. 6 to propel the Phoenix (17-8) into a second-straight appearance in the tournament final.
Defending tournament champion Elon improved to 30-4 against conference opponents over the past three years. The 30 victories include an 18-match winning streak in SoCon regular-season clashes that was ended by a 4-3 loss at Wofford last month.
“This match featured a tremendous effort from both teams,” Phoenix coach Michael Leonard said. “I am very proud of the poise our players demonstrated against a very solid and competitive Wofford team today. We are playing some of our best tennis now. We realize that we will have our hands full tomorrow against an outstanding Furman team, but we are very excited to be back in the finals.”
Elon will face top-seeded Furman (15-10) at 10 a.m. Sunday to decide the league’s tournament champion and NCAA Tournament representative. The SoCon regular-season champion Paladins dealt fourth-seeded Appalachian State (13-10) a 4-0 loss in their semifinal meeting Saturday morning.
The Terriers (12-11) scored at No. 2 singles when George Kernodle out-dueled Oscar Podlewski 7-5, 6-4. At the time that the match was decided, Elon’s Alberto Rojas was leading Scott Collins 4-6, 6-2, 3-2 at No. 4 and the Phoenix’s Philip Nemec was ahead of Paul Bartholomy 6-4, 6-5 at No. 5.
In doubles action, the Second Team All-SoCon duo of Schermerhorn and Rojas upended Williams and Richard Cahi 8-0 at No. 2 and Helpingstine and Cody Stauffer MacDowell outlasted Collins and Kernodle 9-7 at No. 3 to give Elon the early 1-0 edge. The Phoenix's First Team All-SoCon combo of Gooch and Nemec was leading Stubbs and Donald 7-6 at No. 1 when the doubles point was determined.
Nemec found himself playing for the match point in both his singles and doubles contests, but was unable to complete either one. With their singles victories against Wofford, Gooch (14-13 this spring, 8-3 versus SoCon competition), Schermerhorn (15-7, 9-1) and Helpingstine (17-6, 9-2) all improved upon their winning records against league opponents this season.
–ELON–
