Agate

BOONE, N.C. – Halfway there. The Elon men’s tennis team accomplished the first part of its 2011 goal, earning at least a share of the Southern Conference crown with a 6-1 victory over the host Appalachian State Mountaineers at the top of the mountain on Thursday afternoon. The Phoenix (17-6, 9-1) handed the Mountaineers (14-6, 6-3) their first home loss of the season, winning the doubles point and getting singles victories from all four of its seniors in the win.

The title is Elon’s first since the Phoenix won the league crown outright in 2007. Elon will be the top seed in next week’s Southern Conference Tournament in Chattanooga, Tenn.

“Finally,” laughed senior Philip Nemec when asked about the SoCon championship. This group of seniors has come up on the short end of the last three SoCon Tournament title matches so champions has a great ring to it.
 
“Getting this championship was rewarding after all the hard work these guys have put in this year,” commented head coach Michael Leonard. “It was rewarding to see our seniors step up, especially having Cody clinch this match. Now we have to stay hungry for the battles we will face at the SoCon Tournament next week.”

A victory in this match meant the difference between a SoCon crown and finishing fourth in the league standings for the Phoenix. Appalachian State was looking to remain one of three teams with only two losses and have a chance at the number two seed in the upcoming league tournament. Suffice it to say, there was plenty riding on this match for both teams.

For the 11th straight match, Elon captured the doubles point and grabbed the early lead. The Phoenix’s top doubles tandem of Chase Helpingstine and Nemec completed a perfect conference slate, winning its 17th straight match and finishing with an unblemished 10-0 league mark. The duo got a break in the first game over Philip Kloc and Alain Humblet en route to an 8-4 victory.

The matches on courts two and three were extremely tight with both teams realizing the magnitude of winning the doubles point. ASU’s Sebastien King and Alex Markov broke serve to take a 4-3 lead over seniors Alberto Rojas and Cody Stauffer-MacDowell at number two. The Elon pair broke back and moved to a 6-5 advantage. The Mountaineers returned the favor and went back on top, 7-6, serving for the match. King and Markov forced the doubles point to be decided on court two with an 8-6 defeat.

Elon’s Eric Turner and Cameron Silverman dug an early hole, dropping behind 4-1 to Sebastien King and Alex Markov to begin the match. The Phoenix finally broke serve and then tied the match at four-all. The two pairs traded serves before another Elon break gave Turner and Silverman the 6-5 advantage. As ASU closed out the win on court two, the crowd surged over to watch the end of the deciding match. After splitting games once again, Turner had the serve with a 7-6 edge. After losing the first point, Elon won the next four points to grab the 8-6 victory and clinch the doubles point. Silverman and Turner have won nine consecutive matches and are 10-1 on the year.

Despite Elon taking quick first sets in three matches, it was Appalachian who won the first singles match, as Kloc took a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Silverman on court two that made it 1-1. Elon answered at number one. Nemec won a fast first set, 6-2, over Markov, but suffered an early break to open the second set. Markov went up 2-0 before Nemec won three consecutive games to regain the lead, 3-2. With the score knotted at five, Nemec served to go ahead 6-5. The senior broke serve in the final game to win the match, 6-2, 7-5, and put Elon on top ultimately for good.

On court four, Rojas and King were on serve before the Phoenix senior won back-to-back games to lead 4-3 and then took the set, 6-4. The second set played out in similar fashion until Rojas got a break to go on top 5-4 before serving for the 6-4, 6-4 victory and a 3-1 Elon advantage. Rojas, winner of his last 11 matches, was a perfect 10-0 against league opponents this year.

Stauffer-MacDowell, Elon’s third senior to come off the courts, produced the match-clinching victory at number six. He got up 4-0 over Matt Saltsgaver en route to a 6-1 first set win. On serve with a 5-4 advantage in the second, Stauffer-MacDowell broke Saltsgaver and was engulfed by a group of his Elon teammates as he secured the SoCon crown with a 6-1, 6-4 victory.

Turner and Helpingstine had the pressure lifted as each were working to erase deficits after falling behind in the first sets on courts three and five, respectively. Helpingstine completed the senior sweep as he rebounded for a 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-6) defeat of McKinnon. Turner finished off the 6-1 win, cruising to victory after falling 7-6 in a tight opening set. Turner defeated Humblet, 6-7, (6), 6-2, 1-0 (7).

Elon earns the top seed in the Southern Conference Tournament and will play the winner of the No. 8 vs. No. 9 seed on Thursday, April 21 at the Champions Club in Chattanooga, Tenn. The match is slated to begin at 1 p.m. Check back to elonphoenix.com for the full bracket later this week. Prior to heading to the league tournament, the Phoenix will close the regular season with a noon match at East Carolina on Saturday afternoon.