ELON, N.C. – Elon University women's tennis continues its homestand on Sunday, Feb. 17 with a doubleheader against Davidson and Elizabeth City State University at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center in Greensboro. The Phoenix is scheduled to face the Wildcats at 11 a.m. and the Vikings at 3 p.m.
 
THE SERIES
The Phoenix will face Davidson for the 16th consecutive season on Sunday afternoon. The Phoenix is 7-2 against the Wildcats in the last nine meetings, but Davidson won the last matchup 5-2 on Feb. 24, 2018 at the Davidson Tennis Courts. Prior to that matchup, Elon defeated Davidson 5-2 on Feb. 18, 2017 at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. Elon's matchup against Elizabeth City State will be the first-ever meeting between the programs during Elon's time as an NCAA Division I program since 2000.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Davidson is 5-2 overall heading into its match on Sunday against Elon. The Wildcats have earned two wins against Queens, as well as picked up victories against App State, UNC Asheville and Gardner-Webb. Alexandra Abele and Samantha Armas lead the team with six singles wins this season, while the duo also owns the team's best doubles record at 4-2 overall. Davidson finished the 2018 season with a 16-5 mark and fell to UMass 4-0 in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 conference tournament.  Elizabeth City State will be playing its first match of the season on Sunday against the Phoenix. The Vikings are an NCAA Division II institution that is a member of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association. 

ABOUT ELON
The Phoenix (4-4) split its doubleheader its pair of matches last week with a 5-2 win over Radford and a 5-2 loss to reigning CAA champion William & Mary in Greensboro. Nicole Shiau and Olivia Archer lead the team in singles with four victories, while Archer, Uma Nayar and Suzanne Zenoni each have a team best four doubles wins on the year. The Phoenix returns six players from a 2017-18 team that posted a 14-13 dual match record and finished its season falling to eventual 2018 CAA Champion William & Mary 4-2 in the semifinals of the conference tournament at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. Highlighting the returners are All-CAA doubles honorees Maria Paraja and Alex Koniaev, as well as Suzanne Zenoni, who finished with a team-best 16-8 singles record. Zenoni, Paraja, and Moore are the three seniors on the squad in 2018-19. Juniors Koniaev and Edo round out Elon's group of five upperclassman, while Mia Wallace is the maroon and gold's lone sophomore this season. Additionally, the Phoenix infused three newcomers for 2018-19 in Olivia Archer, Uma Nayar and Nicole Shiau.

200 CAREER WINS
Elizabeth Anderson, who is in her 15th season as head coach of the Phoenix, earned her 200th-career win in Elon's 7-0 victory over North Carolina A&T on Wednesday, Jan. 16. Since joining the CAA in 2015, the Phoenix has posted a 61-38 dual match record under the direction of Anderson. Anderson collected her first-ever conference coach of the year award in 2016 as she was named the CAA Coach of the Year during Elon's second season in the league. That season, she led the Phoenix to a 5-1 record against CAA teams. She has led Elon to 14 or more wins in the last seven seasons and guided the program to its first NCAA Tournament in 2014.

STRENGTH IN RETURNERS
Elon's returners posted 60 total wins in singles and 41 doubles victories during the 2018 season. In addition to Zenoni's 16 wins in singles, Paraja had the third-most wins with 13 in 2018. Koniaev also finished with double-digit singles wins posting 11 last season. Zenoni is Elon's top returner in doubles wins as she had 11 last season. As a group, Elon brings back 41 total wins in doubles from a year ago.

FRESH FACES
Elon University head women's tennis coach Elizabeth Anderson announced the additions of Olivia Archer (Cornelius, N.C.), Uma Nayar (Ipoh, Malaysia), and Nicole Shiau (Taichung, Taiwan) for the 2018-19 season.

UP NEXT
The Phoenix heads to Virginia for a pair of matches on Feb. 23 and 24. Elon will face Richmond on Friday, Feb. 23 at 1 p.m., followed by VCU on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 11 a.m.