ELON, N.C. – Elon University women's tennis returns continues its five match home swing this week with four matches in six days at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. The Phoenix will host Mercer on Monday (March 18), Morgan State on Wednesday (March 20), Maryland Eastern Shore on Friday (March 22) and James Madison on Sunday (March 23).
 
THE SERIES
The Phoenix is facing Mercer for just the second time with its first meeting since 2008. In its last meeting on March 24, 2008, Elon earned a 5-2 win. Elon will be facing Morgan State and Maryland Eastern Shore for the first time this week. The Phoenix leads the all-time series 3-2 against the Dukes. James Madison won last season's matchup in Elon's regular season finale with a 6-1 win on April 14, 2018 in Harrisonburg, Va.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Mercer is 9-7 overall after its 5-2 victory at UNCG in Southern Conference action on Sunday. The Bears have won seven straight matches heading into its contest against the Phoenix on Monday. Morgan State plays two matches before facing Elon on Wednesday. The Bears are 2-7 overall heading into matches against North Carolina A&T and North Carolina Central. Those matches will happen on Monday and Tuesday before Morgan State faces Elon on Wednesday. Maryland Eastern Shore opens its 2019 campaign this week against Norfolk State and NCCU before facing Elon on Friday. James Madison is 7-6 overall and faces Richmond and UNCG this week before facing its CAA foe Elon on Saturday.

ABOUT ELON
The Phoenix (7-7) fell to East Carolina 6-1 on Saturday, March 16, at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. It was Elon's first loss at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center this season. Olivia Archer leads the team in singles with eight victories, while Uma Nayar and Nicole Shiau own the team's best doubles record at 4-2 overall. Three of Elon's doubles teams have four wins this season. Elon is 3-1 at home this season and 3-1 in neutral-site matches. Three of those neutral matches have been played in Greensboro and one as part of a doubleheader in Durham.

MOVING UP IN THE RECORD BOOKS
Seniors Suzanne Zenoni and Maria Paraja continue to move up in the dual match record books. Zenoni ranks tied for 8th all-time with Maria Camara Ruiz '15 in singles victories with 47 thus far, while also ranking tied for 8th in doubles with Paige Kensrue '10 with 38 victories. Maria Paraja has a total of 42 singles wins in her career, which ranks 11th all-time. She needs just one more win to tie Briana Berne '13 with 43 wins to move into the top-10 in program history.

WHAT ELON BRINGS TO 2019
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
Following its homestand, the Phoenix will travel to UNCW to face the Seahawks on Wednesday, March 27, at the UNCW Tennis Courts. The match is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m.