ELON, N.C. – Coming off a loss on Thursday, the Elon University men's tennis team (5-4) will look for a bounce back when it travels to face No. 35 North Carolina State (5-4) on Sunday. The match will begin at 4:30 p.m. 
 
COVERAGE

• The match will begin with doubles at 4:30 p.m. and will conclude with singles shortly after. 
• Live scoring for Sunday's match can be accessed here.
• Updates will be provided during the match by the program's Twitter account, @ElonMTennis.  

SERIES HISTORY VS. NORTH CAROLINA STATE

• Elon is winless in its seven meetings against the Wolfpack. All seven matches have been played at NC State, including the most recent which the Wolfpack won 7-0 on Jan. 11, 2020. 

 
ABOUT THE PHOENIX

• Elon is coming off a strong spring in which it went 15-9 and finished as the runner-up at the CAA Championship.
• Among the returnees is Nicholas Campbell, the Most Outstanding Player at the CAA Tournament and an All-CAA second-team singles selection.
• Others include senior Nicholas Condos; juniors Daniel Martin (All-CAA second team in singles and doubles), Luke Queiroz and Ben Zipay; and sophomore Esteban Penagos.
• The Phoenix welcomes three freshmen in Oskar Antinheimo, Veljko Krstic and Jake Pettingell. Antinheimo, from Helsinki, earned a UTR rating of 12 and has been ranked as high as No. 483 in the ITF Junior Rankings in singles play. A native of Belgrade, Serbia, Krstic has been ranked as high as No. 175 in the ITF Junior Rankings in both singles and doubles. Pettingell, from Sarasota, Fla., achieved a top USTA ranking of No. 22 in the state of Florida. Elon also adds Ahmed Hosni for the spring season. A native of Cairo, Egypt, Hosni has been ranked as high as No. 197 in the ITF Junior Rankings and reached two ITF Junior singles finals in 2022.  
• Elon is led by Michael Leonard, who is in his 19th season at the helm.

LAST TIME OUT

• Elon lost to Gardner-Webb 6-1 on Thursday, as the Runnin' Bulldogs extended their winning streak to eight matches. 
• Gardner-Webb won Nos. 2 and 3 doubles to go ahead 1-0. 
• The Runnin' Bulldogs went ahead 2-0 with a win in No. 6 singles before Ben Zipay earned a 6-4, 6-1 win in the No. 5 position. The junior is now 3-0 this season in singles. 
• Gardner-Webb won on Court 3 to take a 3-1 lead and clinched the match with a victory on Court 4. Ahmed Hosni won the opening set of his match against Gardner-Webb's Numa Lemieux-Monette in the No. 4 spot but lost the final two. 
• The Runnin' Bulldogs added a pair of wins in final sets on Courts 1 and 2 to tally a 6-1 win. 
• Three of Elon's five singles losses came in a final set. 
• The Phoenix lost three opening sets in tiebreaks. 

 
DOUBLES SUCCESS

• For the second time in three weeks, Nicholas Condos and Ben Zipay were tabbed as the CAA's Doubles Team of the Week on Tuesday. The tandem previously earned the honor on Feb. 8. 
• Condos and Zipay are 4-1 this season playing No. 3 doubles. The tandem was also up 5-3 in the No. 3 spot against North Carolina on Feb. 12 before the match was abandoned. 
• In addition to the two weekly honors for Condos and Zipay, Oskar Antinheimo and Daniel Martin won Co-Doubles Team of the Week on Jan. 25. 
• Antinheimo and Martin also cracked the ITA's Top 60 Doubles Rankings on Feb. 8, checking it at No. 55. They are the first Elon team to feature in the ranking since 2017.

 
FRESHMAN PRODUCTION

• Freshmen Oskar Antinheimo, Ahmed Hosni and Veljko Krstic have combined for 14 singles and seven doubles wins this season. 
• Of Elon's 21 victories in Nos. 3, 4, 5 and 6 singles this season, 13 were registered by freshmen. 14 of the Phoenix's 32 total singles wins have been delivered by freshmen. 
• Antinheimo had his six-match winning streak in Nos. 5 and 6 singles snapped against Gardner-Webb on Thursday. His six singles victories this season are tied for the most on the team. 
• In addition to his singles success, Antinheimo is off to a strong start in doubles this season, as he is 3-3 with Daniel Martin in the No. 1 spot. The Helsinki, Finland, native has already won two weekly CAA honors – CAA Co-Doubles Team of the Week on Jan. 25 and CAA Player of the Week on Feb. 14. 
• Krstic is currently on a three-match winning streak in the No. 3 position. The Belgrade, Serbia, native has two wins in final sets this season. 

 
SCOUTING NORTH CAROLINA STATE

• The Wolfpack enters the weekend with a 5-4 record this season. 
• NC State defeated Princeton 5-2 in its most recent match on Feb. 12. 
• The Wolfpack was ranked No. 19 in the ITA's Preseason Poll. 
• Three NC State players have five singles wins this season – Robin Catry, Fons Van Sambeek and Braden Shick. Catry is also 5-1 in doubles with Luca Staeheli. 
• NC State is led by head coach Kyle Spencer, who took over the program in 2017. 

 
UP NEXT
The Phoenix returns home to Jimmy Powell Tennis Center for matches against Hampton on March 4 and Wofford on March 5.