ELON, N.C. – The Elon men’s tennis team won its third consecutive match with a 5-2 victory over the visiting East Carolina Pirates in front of a Senior Day crowd at The Jimmy Powell Tennis Center on Saturday afternoon. Elon was impressive on its home courts this season, posting a 7-1 record on the maroon and gold courts. The Phoenix (8-13) will carry the momentum to the upcoming Southern Conference Tournament where it will face College of Charleston next Saturday morning. East Carolina fell to 18-7 on the year.

Elon got off to a strong start with dominating performances at number one and two doubles. The Phoenix’s top duo of Chase Helpingstine and Alberto Rojas was the first off the court, breaking serve on the strength of a 40-0 game to earn the 8-4 victory against Jaroslav Harvath and Henrik Skalmerud. Philip Nemec and Cody Stauffer-MacDowell extended their winning streak to an impressive 13 straight with an 8-2 defeat of Massimo Mannino and Bryan Oakley to clinch the early lead for the Phoenix. Elon’s Tommy Darling paired with Elon’s lone senior Clark Howell who was playing his final match in front of the home crowd. Unfortunately, ECU’s Stephen Whitwell and Stian Tvedt came away with the 8-4 victory on court three.

In singles action, Helpingstine was quick to finish on court two as the junior won his third straight match with a 6-2, 6-3 result over Whitwell. Elon took a 3-0 lead when Stauffer-MacDowell cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 win against Skalmerud at number four. The Pirates got on the board with a win on court six as Oakley earned a 6-1, 6-3 win over Elon freshman Carlos Arboleda.

After battling out a 7-5 win in set one, Rojas took the second set 6-2 over Mannino at number three to clinch the match for the Phoenix. Rojas has won his last three matches.

Nemec had his hands full with Horvath in the top singles match. The junior dropped a quick first set, 6-2, and was down 5-4 in the second before breaking serve to take a 6-5 advantage. Horvath broke back to force the tiebreaker. Nemec stretched the match to a third set, winning the tiebreak on his first match-point opportunity, 7-4. He fed off the momentum and pulled out the 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3 win, his 11^th of the season.

East Carolina’s John Schmitt made the final score 5-2 after outlasting Darling on court five, 7-6 (3), 5-7, 6-3.

“This was a good win against a strong ECU team,” commented Elon head coach Michael Leonard. “We are playing good tennis right now and are excited about the upcoming SoCon Tournament. We sure are going to miss Clark’s leadership for our team next season.”