ELON, N.C. – Elon University men's tennis looks to bounce back from its loss in Virginia over the weekend when it returns to the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center on Thursday, March 7, at 3 p.m. against CAA foe James Madison.
 
THE SERIES
Elon has won each of the four meetings against the Dukes to date. Last season, the Phoenix came back to win 4-3 at James Madison on April 6, 2018. The last time JMU visited Elon was on Feb. 18, 2017 and the Phoenix pick up a 4-3 victory. The 2017 meeting marked the first time JMU took points from the Phoenix after Elon beat the Dukes 7-0 in both 2015 and 2016.

SCOUTING JAMES MADISON
James Madison enters the match with a 10-3 record and has won six of its last seven matches. The Dukes just defeated College of Charleston 5-2 in its most recent match on March 5. The team's only three losses have come against East Carolina, Virginia Tech and UNCG. Damon Roberts and Paul Mendoza have each posted a team-best 9-2 record in singles action, while doubles duo of Mendoza and Tate Steinour own a team-best 5-2 mark in dual match doubles play. James Madison is coming off a 16-7 season in 2018, which ended with a 4-2 loss to Drexel in the CAA Championship quarterfinals.

ABOUT ELON
Elon has an 8-3 mark this season, which includes a 4-0 mark at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. The Phoenix split its weekend trip to Virginia with a 5-2 win at Richmond and a 4-3 loss at VCU. Elon 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. Elon has tabbed three 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, 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.

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 has now earned the honor twice this season with each coming on Feb. 13 and Feb. 27.

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
Elon is currently 39-17 overall in dual match singles action in 2019 and its 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 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 returns to action on Sunday, March 10, at 2 p.m. at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center, when it faces fellow CAA member William & Mary.