ELON, N.C. – Elon University men's tennis opens its 2019 home slate on Friday, Jan. 18, with a doubleheader against Appalachian State and North Carolina A&T at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. The Phoenix begin the doubleheader against the Mountaineers at 9 a.m. and will then face the Aggies at 3 p.m.
 
THE SERIES
Elon leads 14-4 and is 7-1 at home against the Mountaineers. The last time the two met, head coach Michael Leonard earned his 200th-career win in a 7-0 sweep last season on Feb. 18, 2018 at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. Prior to that meeting, Elon's last matchup against App State was a 4-0 victory in the 2014 Southern Conference Tournament Semifinals. A day later, Elon went on to beat Furman to claim the SoCon crown and a berth to the NCAA Tournament. Elon and North Carolina A&T will meet for the 10th time as the Phoenix has won each of the last nine matches to date.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Appalachian State is coming off a 12-11 season in 2018 heading into its season opener against the Phoenix. The Mountaineers upset No. 2-seeded Louisiana Monroe 4-0 in the first round of the Sun Belt Championships before falling to No. 3-seeded South Alabama in the next round. App State's top returner is Ben Webster, who finished with 12 singles wins and a team-best 16 doubles victories in 2018. His 12 singles wins was the second-most on te squad last season. Friday's match will be North Carolina A&T's second match of the season as the Aggies will face App State at 12 p.m. at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. N.C. A&T struggled last season going winless with an 0-18 overall mark and a 0-5 record in MEAC play.

ABOUT ELON
The Phoenix opened its season on Jan. 12 with a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to Duke. Elon claimed the doubles point and had a 3-2 lead late in the match in singles until Duke rallied to earn the victory. This season, Elon returns the 2018 CAA Player of the Year and three-time First Team All-CAA honoree Felipe Sarrasague, as well as Second Team All-CAA honoree Mario Paccini. The Phoenix returns an experienced squad that includes five upperclassmen, led by seniors Sarrasague, Paccini, Felipe Osses-Konig and Taylor Foote. Junior Jacob Bicknell rounds out Elon's five upperclassmen. Kyle Frankel and Camilo Ponce are Elon's lone underclassmen heading into the 2019 season. Elon, which posted a 16-8 dual-match record and ended its season in the 2018 CAA Championship semifinals, also earned a No. 9 spot in the final ITA Carolina Region poll for the second time in the last three seasons.

THE SARRASAGUE SPECIAL
Felipe Sarrasague was named the 2018 CAA Men's Tennis Player of the Year in 2018,  becoming the fourth player in Elon's Division I era – all of which have come in the last six seasons – to earn conference Player of the Year. A 20-match winner in 2017-18, Sarrasague posted a combined record of 20-11 since the start of the fall campaign. Fourteen of those victories came during the spring season with 12 of them coming at the No. 1 spot. During the year, Sarrasague put together an eight-match winning streak and while he lost eight matches this spring, three of the defeats came to nationally-ranked opponents. In doubles action, Sarrasague contributed 15 victories.

SINGLES SUCCESS
During the 2018 season, Elon went 84-51 during dual-match singles action, winning 62.2 percent of its contests. Felipe Sarrasague led the team with 14 wins, while Kyle Frankel tallied 13. Sarrasague duplicated his freshman and sophomore success, taking 11 victories at the No. 1 spot while Fränkel won 12 matches at No. 3 and was 8-2 in his last 10 individual matches. Mario Paccini also had great success, winning 12 matches on the year with 10 of those wins coming at No. 2 and the other two at No. 1 singles. He, Camilo Ponce and Felipe Osses-Konig were tied for third on the team with 12 individual wins.

FRESH FACES
Elon University head men's tennis coach Michael Leonard announced the signing of Dino Bonetta (Rijeka, Croatia) and Maxwell Zucker (Dallas, Texas) for the 2019 season on Saturday, Jan. 5. Bonetta joins the Phoenix program as a transfer from the University of Detroit Mercy. Zucker arrives from Parish Episcopal High School in Dallas, Texas.

UP NEXT
The Phoenix hits the road on Tuesday, Jan. 29 to face Clemson, its second ACC opponent of the season. That match is slated to begin at 1 p.m. inside the at the newly-renovated Hoke Sloan Tennis Center.