ELON, N.C. – Elon University men's tennis finishes out its three-match homestand this week with matches against USC Upstate on Thursday, March 21, followed by Winthrop on Friday March 22 at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. Both matches against the USC Upstate Spartans and the Winthrop Eagles are scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.
 
THE SERIES
Against USC Upstate, the Spartans lead the series 3-2. However, Elon has won two straight against the Spartans, including a 5-2 victory last season on March 21, 2018 in Spartanburg, S.C. While Elon trails Winthrop 6-5 in the all-time series, the Phoenix has won four of its last five matchups against the Eagles. Last season, the Phoenix defeated the Eagles 5-2 on March 10, 2018 at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. 

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
USC Upstate is 1-9 overall this season and has played its last six matches on the road, recently falling 4-2 at Bethune-Cookman on March 16. The Spartans are still searching for their first win against a NCAA Division I opponent this season. Fernando Bernardes leads USC Upstate in singles play this season with a 5-1 record, highlighted by two wins each at No. 3 and No. 4. The Spartans have three doubles duos with two wins apiece. Winthrop has a 7-6 record overall heading into Friday's match against the Phoenix. Despite losing 4-3 against Longwood in its last match on March 17, Winthrop has won two of its last three matches. The Eagles' No. 1 singles player Diego Quiroz has a team-best 9-3 record and has won eight straight matches. Winthrop's top doubles team of Quiroz and Connor Williamson have a 7-2 record this season.

ABOUT ELON
Elon has an 12-4 mark this season, which includes a 7-0 mark at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center following a 4-0 win against Coastal Carolina on Monday afternoon. Elon has a 2-1 record this season against CAA opponents after a 6-1 win against William & Mary and a 7-0 victory over James Madison. Elon has now won six of its last eight matches heading into its next two matches. The Phoenix started the 2019 season with a 6-1 record, which included a six-match winning streak from Jan. 18 until Feb. 10. The 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.

RACKING UP CAA WEEKLY HONORS
Elon has won a total of five weekly honors this season. Kyle Frankel was named the CAA Player of the Week while doubles duo of Taylor Foote and Dino Bonetta claimed Doubles Team of the Week honors on Wednesday, March 13. 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 has now earned the honor twice this season with each coming on Feb. 13 and Feb. 27.

THE SARRASAGUE SPECIAL
Felipe Sarrasague, the regining 2018 CAA Men's Tennis Player of the Year, has an 11-2 singles record this season, including two wins against ranked opponents in the spring. He had won 11 straight matches before falling to Frazier Rengifo of ETSU on Sunday, March 17. It was his first defeat since Elon's season-opening loss at Duke on Jan. 12. Last season, he became 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. As 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
Elon is currently 62-25 overall in dual match singles action in 2019 and is continuing where it left off last season. 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 Frankel 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.

WHO'S BACK?
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, which finished 16-8 last season, 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.

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
Elon hits the road at the beginning of next week with a matchup against College of Charleston on Monday, March 25. The matchup between the Phoenix and the Cougars is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.