Match 1

Match 2

ELON, N.C. – The Elon men’s tennis team rewarded the smattering of fans that braved the below-40 degree temperatures with hot chocolate and blankets to see the Phoenix come away with a 4-3 victory over the visiting Binghamton Bearcats (4-13) in a marathon match at The Jimmy Powell Tennis Center on a chilly Saturday afternoon. The match took nearly five hours, including a three-and-a-half hour singles match that tied the score at three and made doubles action necessary. Elon (11-5) also cruised to a 4-0 victory over N.C. Central in a morning match.

“Our teamed showed so much resiliency today, having to rebound after being down 2-0 to Binghamton and win in three sets at number three and six,” said Elon head coach Michael Leonard. “Tommy (Darling) and Eric (Turner) showed a lot to come back and win and then we jumped on them in doubles to come away with the win. I am proud of the guys for staying the course on a really long day. We played some of our best tennis at the end of the day despite the rain and cold temperatures, which is difficult to do. We came out fired up and ready to play in doubles to get the win.”

With the threat of rain pending, Elon and Binghamton played singles action first in hopes of getting a result before the weather system hit the area. Entertaining singles play developed on most of the courts. The Bearcats held a 3-2 lead with Eric Turner and Gilbert Wong just beginning a third set on court three, the fourth singles match to go to a third set. After Turner dropped the first set 4-6, the junior was serving with the second set tied at 5-5. Turner made it 6-5 before Wong served and forced a tiebreaker. With Elon needing to force a third set, Turner came away with the 7-6 (3) win in the breaker. Turner took the momentum and rolled out to a 5-1 advantage in the third set. Wong battled, but with the match hinging on Turner’s result he came away with the 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 victory to force doubles action. The match totaled three hours and 31 minutes, the longest known match in Elon history.

Dusk fell but that didn’t phase the Phoenix, who had started competition at 9:30 in the morning. Elon was fired up in doubles play and its top two tandems didn’t give Binghamton a chance. With Elon one game away from winning on both courts one and two, a misty rain began to fall and the teams debated whether finishing the match would be possible. Elon’s Alberto Rojas and Cody Stauffer-MacDowell took care of business first, knocking off Alexandre Haggai and Arnav Jain, 8-2. With the weather suspending play on court three in a tighter match, Elon was determined to finish things off at number one and get a ‘W.” Holding a 7-2 advantage, Chase Helpingstine and Philip Nemec won their 10th straight match with an 8-3 match-clinching victory over Sven Vioedgraven and Wong. The 35th ranked team in the country moved to 11-1 on the season.

Binghamton started the match with a quick 2-0 lead after Vioedgraven defeated Nemec at number one singles, 6-3, 6-2 and Alexandre Haggai took a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Helpingstine at number four. Elon got on the board when Rojas battled out a 7-6 (2) set one victory and then finished off a 7-6 (2), 6-2 win over Ruben Haggai on court five. At number six, Elon’s Tommy Darling got off to a rough start as Bastian Bornkessel took a 6-1 win in the first set. Darling powered through to break Bornkessel and go up 4-3 en route to a 6-4 set two victory. The sophomore made it a 2-2 match with his 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 win, his third consecutive victory.

One of the most grueling and compelling matches of the afternoon was on court two. Phoenix rookie Cameron Silverman and Binghamton’s Jain split the opening two sets, which both were decided with tiebreakers. With Silverman serving for the match at 6-5 in set two, Jain got the break and used the momentum to win the tiebreaker and send the match to a third set. Jain came away with the 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), 6-3 win to put the pressure on court three. Turner’s comeback win set the tone for the Elon doubles pairs.

In morning tennis action, the Phoenix was quick to take the three doubles matches and the early 1-0 lead. Carlos Arboleda and Philip Meyer needed less than 30 minutes for an 8-0 defeat of N.C. Central’s Johnny Brown and Christopher Mack at number three. Rojas and MacDowell competed at number one and topped Jack Waissen and Trey Chatman, 8-4. Silverman and Andrew Prince finished the sweep with an 8-3 defeat of Alejandro Espitia and Andres Perez.

Due to the inclement weather, the match was called as soon as it was decided. Elon lost only three games in the three singles matches it won as Darling and Prince each shutout their opponents at number five and six, respectively. Stauffer-MacDowell finished off the match with a 6-0, 6-3 defeat of Espitia on court two.

With an undefeated record in Southern Conference action, Elon will battle the only other league unbeaten when it hosts College of Charleston on Tuesday, March 29 at The Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. Doubles action begins at 2:30 p.m.