ELON, N.C. – Winners of three straight, the Elon University women's tennis team (3-1) looks to continue its momentum with a pair of matches this weekend. The Phoenix will first face Clemson on Saturday at 11 a.m. before squaring off against Gardner-Webb on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. Both matches will take place at Clemson. 
 
COVERAGE

• Both matches will begin with doubles at the scheduled start times and will conclude with singles shortly after. 
• Live stats for Saturday's match can be found here.
• Video for Saturday's match can be found here.  
• Live stats and video will not be available for Sunday's match. 
• Other updates will be provided during both matches will be provided by the program's Twitter account, @ElonWTennis. 

 
SERIES HISTORY VS. CLEMSON, GARDNER-WEBB

• Saturday's match will be the first ever meeting between Elon and Clemson. 
• Sunday will be the 15^th all-time encounter between Elon and Gardner-Webb. The Phoenix leads the head-to-head 13-1. 
• Elon won the last matchup between the teams 4-0 on Feb. 13, 2022. The match was contested at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center. 

 
ABOUT THE PHOENIX

• Elon is coming off a strong season in 2022 in which it went 17-9 and finished as the runner-up at the Colonial Athletic Association Championship.
• The returnees include graduate Olivia Archer (All-CAA third team in singles); seniors Julie Ball, Shauna Galvin and Sibel Tanik (All-CAA first team in singles and second team in doubles) and junior Lizette Reding (All-CAA second team in singles and doubles). 
• The Phoenix also welcomes three newcomers in sophomore Miray Konar — a transfer from Western Carolina — and freshmen Madison Cordisco and Helen Sarikulaya. Konar, from Izmir, Turkey, went 7-5 in singles and 10-6 in doubles while playing primarily in the No. 2 spot for the Catamounts last season. A Pittsburgh native, Cordisco was considered a five-star recruit by tennisrecruiting.net. Sarikulaya, from Rockville, Md., was also a five-star recruit and reached as high as No. 7 in the USTA Girls' 18 national standings.
• Elon is led by Elizabeth Anderson, who is beginning her 19th season at the helm.

LAST TIME OUT

• Elon defeated UNC Greensboro 6-1 at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center on Feb. 3 to earn its third consecutive victory. 
• Elon swept doubles with wins in the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 spots. 
• Lizette Reding raced to a 6-2, 6-0 victory on Court 2 to put Elon ahead 2-0. It was her third straight win in singles. 
• Olivia Archer won 6-0, 6-3 on Court 5 to give the Phoenix a 3-0 lead.
• After UNCG won on Court 4, Helen Sarikulaya clinched the match for Elon with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 victory. It was the second time in her freshman season she has clinched a match for Elon, as she previously did so against Campbell on Jan. 20.
• Sibel Tanik added a three-set victory on Court 1 and Miray Konar battled to win her match on Court 6 in a deciding-set tiebreak to secure the 6-1 win for Elon. 
• With the win, the Phoenix is off to a 3-1 start for the second time in the last three seasons. 
• Elon has now won its last four matches played at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center dating back to its 2021 campaign. 

 
CAA WEEKLY HONORS

• For the third consecutive week, Elon took home a CAA weekly honor, as Lizette Reding and Sibel Tanik were chosen as the conference's Doubles Team of the Week on Wednesday. 
• The duo defeated UNCG's team of Olivia Gallagher and Hanna Giddings in Elon's match against the Spartans on Feb. 3. It was their second straight win in the No. 1 spot for the Phoenix. 
• Reding and Tanik have won 14 matches as a tandem since the start of last season, the most of any Elon doubles team. 
• This is the fourth weekly award this season for Elon. Julie Ball won CAA Player of the Week on Jan. 25 while Tanik won it on Feb. 1. The tandem of Helen Sarikulaya and Miray Konar also earned CAA Doubles Team of the Week honors on Jan. 25. 

 
ARCHER'S ASCENT 

• Olivia Archer's singles victory against UNCG on Feb. 3 was the 58th of her career, tying her for third all-time with Barbora Lazarova (2012-15) in all-time singles wins at Elon. 
• Archer needs 10 more singles wins to tie Frida Jansaker's (2011-14) all-time Elon record with 68. 
• After posting 19 singles wins in 2022, tied for the third most in a single season in Elon's Division I history, Archer is off to a 3-1 start in 2023. 

 
TANIK ON A TEAR

• With Sibel Tanik's victory against UNCG, the senior is now 17-7 in the last two seasons at the No. 1 singles position.
• Dating back to last season, the senior has won 13 of her last 16 completed singles matches, all in the No. 1 spot. 
• Of Tanik's 17 singles victories the last two seasons, 14 have come in straight sets. 
• All of Tanik's 24 singles appearances the last two seasons have come in the No. 1 position. 

 
THRIVING FRESHMEN 

• In Elon's last three contests, freshman Madison Cordisco and Helen Sarikulaya have paired for two doubles wins and posted four singles victories.
• Sarikulaya is 6-0 across singles and doubles in Elon's last three matches, including two singles triumphs that clinched wins for the Phoenix. 
• Of Sarikulaya's three victories this season, two have come in the No. 3 position, while the other came in the No. 4 spot. 
• Cordisco has won two doubles and one singles contest in Elon's last three matches. 

 
REDING ROLLING

• Lizette Reding's singles victory in the No. 2 spot against UNCG was her third straight, improving her record this season to 3-1. She has won her last six singles sets.
• With the win against the Spartans, the junior is 10-5 in her career at the No. 2 position.
• Dating back to last season, Reding has won 13 of her last 18 completed singles matches. 

 
SCOUTING CLEMSON

• The Tigers enter Saturday's match with a 6-1 record on the season, including a 5-0 mark at home. 
• Clemson defeated Georgia Southern 7-0 in its last match on Feb. 3, winning all but two sets across doubles and singles. 
• Through seven matches, Clemson holds a 33-3 record in singles. Nine different players have at least one win.
• Clemson is led by third-year head coach Amy Sargeant. 

 
SCOUTING GARDNER-WEBB

• Gardner-Webb holds a 2-1 record on the season and is 2-0 at home. 
• The Runnin' Bulldogs toppled Limestone in its last match on Thursday. 
• Manon Delsol, who had the most singles victories last season of any returning Gardner-Webb player, is off to a 2-1 start in 2023. Four other Gardner-Webb players also hold a 2-1 mark. 
• Head coach Jim Corn is at the helm of the Runnin' Bulldogs and is in his 17^th year with the program. 

 
UP NEXT
Elon returns home for a match against Longwood at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center on Feb. 15 at 2 p.m.