Agate

MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – The Elon University men's tennis team kicked off a three-match road trip with a 4-3 win at College of Charleston today, March 24. The match was knotted at 3-3 before Jordan Kaufman clinched a three-set victory to give the Phoenix its first road win of the season.
 
After Elon and College of Charleston split the first two doubles matches, the point was decided on court No. 2, where Kaufman and Robert Lindgren topped the Cougars' Vasily Kichigin and Charlie Ghriskey, 8-7 (7-4), to give Elon a 1-0 advantage.
 
Seniors Stefan Fortmann and Brian Kowalski added points for the Phoenix with singles wins. Fortmann toppled Charleston's Rodrigo Encinas, 6-2, 6-1, for his fifth straight singles win and Kowalski handled Kichigin, 7-5, 6-4.
 
The Phoenix dropped matches on court Nos. 3, 5 and 6, leaving the match to be decided at No. 2 singles, where Kaufman battled the Cougars' Brice Allanic. Kaufman took the first set, 7-6 (7-5), and dropped the second set before bouncing back to clinch the match with a 6-3 third-set win and complete the singles sweep for Elon's seniors, the sixth time the trio has done so this season.
 
"This is a great win for our program against a very tough College of Charleston team," Elon head coach Michael Leonard said. "Winning the doubles point was huge for us. Stefan and Brian led the way and Jordan had a gutsy performance to help us get the win."
 
The Phoenix improves to 7-9 on the season and continues its road swing with a match against USC Upstate tomorrow, March 25. First serve from Spartanburg, S.C., is scheduled for 2 p.m.