ELON, N.C. – After having three consecutive matches cancelled or rescheduled due to rainy weather, Elon University men's tennis returns to action on Tuesday, Feb. 26, when it faces the Liberty Flames at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center at 2:30 p.m.
 
THE SERIES
All-time, Elon has won seven of nine matches against Liberty and took last year's match 5-2 over the Flames at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center on Feb. 8, 2017. Felipe Osses-Konig clinched the Phoenix victory with a 6-3, 6-3 win at the No. 5 singles position. The Phoenix has faced Liberty for two straight seasons. Prior to its meeting in 2016, Elon and Liberty had not faced each other since the 2007 season.

SCOUTING LIBERTY
The Flames have a 4-6 overall mark this season after earning a 7-0 victory over North Carolina A&T on Saturday. Liberty has also earned wins against William & Mary, George Washington and Drexel, while losing close matches 4-3 against Virginia Tech and Washington. The team is coming off a 12-12 year in 2018 and ended its season with a 4-3 loss in the quarterfinals of the Big South Championship quarterfinals. This season, the Flames are now competing in the Atlantic Sun Conference. Nicaise Muamba, who primarily plays at the No. 1 singles position, garnered a national singles ranking by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) at No. 104 on Feb. 8 earlier this season. Liberty was picked to finish 3rd in the ASUN Preseason Poll.

ABOUT ELON
Elon had its six-match winning streak snapped after a 6-1 loss to reigning CAA champion UNCW on Feb. 15. The six-match winning streak included the program's first win over an ACC program since 2014 after a 5-2 victory at Clemson and a 4-3 victory over Rice. Elon has tabbed two CAA Player of the Week honorees in the opening two months of the season in Felipe Sarrasague and Felipe Osses-Konig. This season, Elon returns the 2018 CAA Player of the Year and three-time First Team All-CAA honoree 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, 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.

SARRASAGUE AND OSSES-KONIG EARN CAA WEEKLY HONORS
Seniors Felipe Osses-Konig and Felipe Sarrasague have each earned CAA Player of the Week honors this season. Osses-Konig claimed the honor on Wednesday, Jan. 30, for his 4-0 singles record during the opening month of the season. Sarrasague earned the accolade on Wednesday, Feb. 13, following his two key singles wins in Elon's victories against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Rice extended his singles winning streak to five matches.

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 will hit the road again this weekend, March 2-3, with a trip with Richmond, Va. to face VCU on Saturday and Richmond on Sunday. Both matches are scheduled to start at 1 p.m.