ELON, N.C. – Elon University women's tennis begins a four-match homestand to conclude the regular season on Wednesday, April 3, when it hosts Triad rival and former Southern Conference foe UNCG at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. The matchup between the Phoenix and the Spartans is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.

FREE PIZZA!
Come early to grab some free pizza! There will be free pizza available for the first 50 Elon University students that arrive at the match between the Phoenix and the Spartans.
 
THE SERIES
The Phoenix faces UNCG for the 22nd time on Wednesday. Although UNCG leads the all-time series 12-9, Elon has won six straight contests against the Spartans. In the last meeting, the Phoenix earned a 5-2 victory against the Spartans at the UNCG Tennis Courts in Greensboro. Alex Koniaev finished 2-0 in combined singles and doubles to lead Elon to victory. Additionally, Suzanne Zenoni picked up a win on court three against the Spartans.

SCOUTING UNCG
UNCG enters Wednesday's contest on a two-match winning streak after wins over Western Carolina and Samford in SoCon action. The Spartans are 7-10 overall and have a 3-4 record away from home this season. Brianna Gomez leads the Spartans in singles play this season with nine victories at primarily the No. 4 position. UNCG has two doubles teams with a matching 5-5 record to lead the squad, but Sophia Adams and Nancy Bridges each individually have a team-best seven doubles wins on the year. In addition to its two conference wins, the Spartans defeated UNC Asheville, North Carolina A&T, Northern Colorado, Colorado State and Davidson in non-conference play.

ABOUT ELON
The Phoenix (10-9) bounced back from a narrow loss against James Madison to earn its first win over a CAA foe this season on Wednesday, March 27, with a 6-1 road win at UNCW. The match marked Elon's final on the road this season. Elon has now won three of its last four matches heading into its slate of four straight matches at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center to conclude the regular season. Olivia Archer leads the team in singles with 12 victories and a 12-3 overall record, while No. 2 duo of Uma Nayar and Nicole Shiau own the team's best doubles record at 8-3 overall. Along with Nayar and Shiau, Elon's No. 1 and No. 3 doubles teams have seven wins on the season, while Nayar individually has a team-best nine wins in doubles. Archer currently owns Elon's longest singles winning streak at seven matches, while Nayar and Shiau have a team-best four-match winning streak on court two.

MOVING UP IN THE RECORD BOOKS
Seniors Suzanne Zenoni and Maria Paraja continue to move up in the dual match record books. Zenoni ranks 8th all-time in singles victories with 49 thus far and is one win away from tying Olivia Lucas '18 in 7th at 50 wins. Zenoni also ranks 8th in doubles with 41 career victories. Maria Paraja has a total of 46 singles wins in her career, which ranks 10th all-time.

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
The Phoenix continues its four-match homestand before the 2019 CAA Championships on Saturday and Sunday at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. Elon will host Senior Day against South Carolina State on Saturday, April 6 at 1 p.m. Then, the maroon and gold will host CAA foe College of Charleston on Sunday, April 7, at 1 p.m.