ELON, N.C. – Elon University women's tennis looks to bounce back from its loss at VCU as it continues its three-match road swing on Thursday morning with a match against Campbell at the Nisbet Center. The contest is slated to begin at 11 a.m.
THE SERIES
Thursday morning will be Elon's first meeting against Campbell in 16 years as the last meeting came on April 11, 2003 in Buies Creek. The Camels won that match 5-2. Campbell holds a 4-0 lead in the all-time series since Elon became an NCAA Division I program in 2000.
SCOUTING CAMPBELL
The Camels are 4-6 overall and are coming off a 5-2 win over Western Carolina this past weekend. Campbell has also picked up wins against Coastal Carolina, Wingate, and North Carolina Central. Its losses came against VCU, Drexel, NC State, UNCW, East Carolina and Richmond. Lucile Pons has a season-high five singles wins, while Pons and Lea Cutura have each posted a team-best four doubles victories this season.
ABOUT ELON
The Phoenix (6-5) dropped its last match on Saturday with a 6-1 defeat at VCU.
Olivia Archer leads the team in singles with five victories, while Archer and
Suzanne Zenoni each have a team best five 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 closes out its road swing on Monday, March 4, with a trip to Boiling Springs, N.C. to take on Gardner-Webb. The match between Elon and the Runnin' Bulldogs is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m.
