ELON, N.C. – Elon University women's tennis returns to the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center this weekend for a pair of matches against Radford and William & Mary. The Phoenix first faces the Highlanders on Saturday, Feb. 9 at 1 p.m., followed by fellow CAA member and the reigning conference champion Tribe on Sunday, Feb. 10, at 1 p.m.
 
THE SERIES
Elon will face Radford for the 14th time since the Phoenix joined the NCAA Division I ranks in 1999-00. The Phoenix leads the series 12-1 all-time against the Highlanders and earned a 7-0 victory over Radford in the last meeting on Jan. 16, 2017. Radford's lone win came on April 16, 2000 in a 6-3 victory over Elon. Sunday's match will mark the fourth-ever match between the Phoenix and Tribe since Elon entered the Division I ranks. The two teams have met twice during the regular season and once during the CAA Championships. In the last meeting, the Phoenix nearly pulled off an upset against the No. 42-ranked and top-seeded Tribe in a 4-2 loss in the semifinals of the 2018 CAA Championships on April 21, 2018 at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. William & Mary holds a 3-0 lead in the all-time series.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Radford is 2-1 overall on the year after wins over North Carolina A&T and West Virginia State, as well as a loss to South Carolina State. The Highlanders finished the 2018 season with a 10-12 overall mark and a 3-5 ledger in Big South action. Radford lost to Campbell 4-1 in the quarterfinals of last season's conference championships. The Tribe, which sits at 1-4 on the year, is coming off a narrow loss to Purdue and a pair of close setbacks at the ITA Kick-off Weekend in Athens, Ga. against Kansas State and South Florida. Kansas State. W&M will face off against Wake Forest on Saturday, Feb. 9, before facing the Phoenix on Sunday. Natalia Perry and freshman Mila Saric were named the CAA Doubles Team of the Week on Jan. 30. The pair has started the season with four-straight wins. The Tribe is under new leadership in 2019 as former W&M assistant Toni Bickford was named the program's 10th head coach on Sept. 24. The Tribe is coming off its 26th all-time CAA Championship and its fourth-straight league title.

ABOUT ELON
The Phoenix (3-3) split its doubleheader in Durham on Jan. 23 with a loss to No. 4 Duke and a victory over Mount Olive. Nicole Shiau and Sofia Edo lead the team in singles with three victories, while duo of Maria Paraja and Alex Koniaev have two wins to lead the team in doubles. 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 returns to the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center on Saturday, Feb. 16, to close out its three-match homestand against Davidson. The match is schedule to begin at 1 p.m.