ELON, N.C. – The Elon University men's tennis team (6-4) will host Fairfield on Sunday at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center in a match slated for 3:30 p.m. 
 
The match was originally scheduled for March 6 but has been moved up due to forecasted rain in Elon that day. 
 
HOW TO FOLLOW

• The match will begin with doubles at 3:30 p.m. with singles to follow shortly after. 
• Live scoring for Sunday's match can be accessed here.
• Admission to the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center is free. 
• For live updates throughout the match, follow @ElonMTennis on Twitter and Instagram. 

 
THE MATCHUP

• Sunday will be the first ever meeting between Elon and Fairfield. 
• This will also be the first time Elon has ever played an opponent from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. 

 
ABOUT THE PHOENIX

• Elon is coming off a 15-9 season in the spring and its second consecutive appearance in the CAA championship match. 
• Headlining Elon's returners from last season is Daniel Martin, who earned CAA Player of The Year and CAA Tournament MVP honors in the spring. Martin posted an 18-6 singles record in 2023 with all 18 wins coming at the No. 1 spot. 
• Elon also returns reigning CAA Rookie of the Year Veljko Krstic, who racked up 16 singles victories in his freshman season. 
• Back for his senior season is Ben Zipay, who took home Third Team All-CAA Doubles honors in 2023. Zipay also won 12 singles contests.
• The other returner for the Phoenix is sophomore Oskar Antinheimo, who took home a CAA Player of the Week and two CAA Doubles Team of the Week honors as a freshman. 
• Elon welcomes four newcomers in 2023 – Dylan Heap, Juan Sengariz, Jack Curtis and Alonso Roca. Heap is a graduate student who played last season at Rice and Sengariz joins the Phoenix after spending the last two seasons at Anderson. Curtis and Roca are both freshman this season.
• Elon is led by head coach Michael Leonard, who is in his 20th season leading the program. 

LAST TIME OUT

• Elon earned its first win in seven tries against East Tennessee State on Feb. 29, defeating the Buccaneers 4-1 in Johnson City. 
• The teams played clinch doubles and singles. 
• Elon won at the Nos. 2 and 3 doubles spots to clinch the doubles point. 
• Ben Zipay and Juan Sengariz picked up their second victory of the season playing No. 2 doubles with a 7-5 result. 
• Oskar Antinheimo and Jack Curtis continued their winning ways together at the No. 3 position with a 6-3 triumph. 
• In a return to the No. 2 singles position, Veljko Krstic defeated East Tennessee State's Peter Kalocsai 7-5, 6-3. 
• Juan Sengariz added his fourth singles win of the season with a 6-4, 6-3 result over Alberto Garcia on Court 4. 
• Playing the No. 5 position, Dylan Heap rounded out the singles wins for the Phoenix with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over James Sim. 

BIG O COMES UP BIG 

• Sophomore Oskar Antinheimo was the hero for Elon in its most recent outing against Gardner-Webb on Thursday.
• Playing No. 3 singles, Antinheimo won the opening set 6-3 before dropping the second 6-4 against Gardner-Webb's Numa Lemieux Monette, sending the match to a third. Lemieux Monette defeated Antinheimo in a third last season playing the No. 4 spot in Elon's loss to the Runnin' Bulldogs in Boiling Springs. 
• Antinheimo trailed 4-1 in the final set but battled back with three straight games to tie the score at 4-4. After Lemieux-Monette held serve to go up 5-4, Antinheimo responded in kind to even the set at 5-5. Needing another hold after Lemieux-Monette made it 6-5 in his favor, Antinheimo found himself at deuce, needing the next point to send the set to a tiebreak. 
• Lemieux-Monette dictated the deuce point, but Antinheimo saved the match with an incredible winner on a cross-court backhand pass to stay alive. In the tiebreak, Antinheimo fell behind 2-0 early but leveled the score at 3-3 entering the changeover. 
• Antinheimo won the next four points after the changeover to deliver the clinching point for the Phoenix. It was his sixth singles win of the season and the second of his career in a final-set tiebreak.
• To read more about Antinheimo's dramatic clinching victory courtesy of Rising Phoenix, click here.

DAN THE MAN

• Daniel Martin has won three singles and five doubles matches this season. 
• Playing No. 1 doubles alongside Dylan Heap this season, Martin is 4-2, which included a crucial 7-5 victory to clinch against Campbell on Feb. 17.
• Martin also won a doubles match with partner Veljko Krstic in Elon's victory over CAA opponent Hampton on Feb. 24. 
• Last season, Martin racked up several prestigious CAA honors in his second year with the program. 
• Martin became the third Elon player to be named CAA Player of the Year, joining Stefan Fortmann and Felipe Sarrasague, who took home the award twice. 
• After going 3-0 in singles at the CAA Tournament, Martin was also chosen as the Most Outstanding Player of the event. This was the first time since 2019 that Elon took home both CAA Player of the Year and CAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player in the same season. 
• Martin was also named to the All-CAA First Team for singles after posting an 18-6 record, with all 18 wins coming at the No. 1 spot. He won his final six singles contests, four of which came against conference opponents. 
• Martin won CAA matches against Hampton, College of Charleston, two against Delaware, North Carolina A&T, Monmouth and UNC Wilmington. He also won a singles match against No. 35 North Carolina State and was named CAA Player of the Week after the victory. 
• Since coming to Elon, Martin is 38-15 in completed singles contests. 
• In addition to his accolades on the court, Martin was also selected as Elon's Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year and received the CAA's 2022-23 Leadership and Sport Excellence Award for men's tennis.

SUPER SOPHOMORES

• Sophomores Oskar Antinheimo and Veljko Krstic have been steady producers throughout their Elon careers and are off to strong starts in their second seasons with the Phoenix. 
• Krtsic is 6-4 in singles this season, with four of the wins coming at the No. 2 position and the other two at the No. 1 spot. He is 4-0 playing No. 2 singles, the last two of which have come in straight sets. 
• In Elon's most recent match against a CAA opponent on Feb. 24, Krstic took down Hampton's Donte Armbrister 6-0, 6-2 at the No. 1 singles spot.  
• As a freshman last season, Veljko Krstic became Elon's first player to win CAA Rookie of the Year and was also named to the All-CAA Second Team for singles.
• The Belgrade, Serbia, native went 16-4 in singles a season ago, with 15 of the victories coming at the No. 3 position. 
• Two of Krstic's three wins this season have come in a decisive set this season, with one coming in a match tiebreak and the other in a full third set. 
• Fellow sophomore Oskar Antinheimo is thriving early this season for the maroon and gold.
• Antinheimo leads the maroon and gold with seven singles victories on the season, five of which have come at the No. 3 spot. He is also second on the team with six doubles wins, all of which have alongside partner Jack Curtis. 
• After a 2-0 start to the season in singles, Antinheimo was chosen as the CAA Player of the Week on Jan. 23. It was the second time he has won the award in his career.
• Antinheimo won three CAA weekly honors last season – CAA Co-Doubles Team of the Week on Jan. 25, CAA Player of the Week on Feb. 14 and CAA Doubles Team of the Week on March 28, which he earned with Krstic. 
• The Helsinki, Finland, native went 14-6 in singles and finished the season on a four-match winning streak. Nine of the victories came at the No. 5 spot. 

VERSATILE ZIPAY 

• For the first time in his Elon career, Ben Zipay won a singles match without dropping a single game on Feb. 24 against Hampton, as he won 6-0, 6-0 playing the No. 6 spot. 
• Zipay has a pair of singles contests on the season, with the other coming against UNC Asheville on Feb. 18. 
• Zipay has teamed up with Juan Sengariz for four wins this season. Last week, the duo clinched a fourth-straight doubles point for the Phoenix on Feb. 22 against Gardner-Webb with a win at the No. 2 spot before winning against Hampton on Feb. 24 in their debut together at the No. 1 position. 
• The tandem of Zipay and Sengariz also won CAA Doubles Team of the Week earlier this season after a win at No. 3 doubles against then No. 25 North Carolina. 
• Zipay enters 2024 coming off the most productive campaign of his Elon career. He went 23-10 last season across singles and doubles, with 12 singles and 11 doubles victories. 
• The 12 singles victories all came at the Nos. 5 and 6 positions and were tied for the third most on the team behind just Daniel Martin and Veljko Krstic.
• Of Zipay's 12 singles victories last season, 11 came in straight sets.  
• In doubles, Zipay teamed up with Nicholas Condos last season to earn CAA Doubles Team of the Week honors twice. The duo earned All-CAA Third Team recognition in doubles.

SENSATIONAL SENGARIZ

• In addition to his doubles success with partner Ben Zipay, Juan Sengariz has hit his stride in singles. 
• The junior has won four of his last six appearances in singles, all of which have come at the No. 4 spot. 
• Three of his four victories this season have come in straight sets, with the other coming in a match tiebreak. 
• After a 3-0 week at No. 4 singles against South Carolina State, Campbell and UNC Asheville, Sengariz was tabbed as the CAA Player of the Week on Feb. 20. It was the first CAA weekly honor of his Elon career. 

 
HEAP REUNITES WITH MARTIN

• After spending the last two years at Rice, Dylan Heap joined the Phoenix for the 2023-24 season, reuniting him with Daniel Martin.
• Heap and Martin spent two seasons together at Minnesota (2019-21) before both transferred to new schools. Martin came to Elon while Heap went to Rice. 
• The tandem has played No. 1 doubles together for the Phoenix in seven of the last eight matches. They have gone 4-2 together, which included a crucial clinching victory against CAA opponent Campbell on Feb. 17. 
• Heap has also found success in singles, winning four of his last five outings. Three of the wins have come at the No. 5 spot with the other coming at the No. 4 position. All of his victories this season have come in straight sets. 
• In two matches against CAA opponents this season, Heap is 3-0 across doubles and singles. 

FRESHMAN PHENOM

• After joining the Phoenix in January, freshman Jack Curtis has quickly become a stalwart in both Elon's singles and doubles lineups. 
• Curtis leads the team with seven doubles victories this season, all of which have come playing the No. 3 spot.
• Six of his doubles victories have come with partner Oskar Antinheimo, as the two underclassmen are Elon's winningest doubles duo this season. 
• In singles, Curtis has six victories playing the Nos. 5 and 6 spots. He is tied with Veljko Krstic for second on the team in singles victories. 
• Of his six singles victories, three have come in a final set, one of which was a match tiebreak. He leads the team in final-set victories this season. 

 
MEET THE CAPTAINS

• Daniel Martin and Ben Zipay are Elon's captains for the 2024 season. 
• Martin is a Letchworth, England, native who joined the Phoenix during the 2021-22 season after spending two years at Minnesota. 
• Zipay hails from Osprey, Florida, and was Elon's Most Improved Player Award last season.  
• To learn more about Elon's captains courtesy of Rising Phoenix, click here. 

 
TWO-TIME DEFENDING CAA FINALISTS

• Elon advanced to the championship match at the CAA Tournament for the second consecutive year in 2023. The tournament was hosted by William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va. 
• As the tournament's No. 3 seed, the Phoenix opened with a 4-1 victory over No. 6 Delaware in the quarterfinals. Singles was played first due to the match being moved indoors. Daniel Martin, Oskar Antinheimo and Nicholas Condos all won their matches to put Elon up 3-1, allowing Nicholas Campbell to clinch the victory with a thrilling three-set win on Court 2.
• In the semifinals, Elon lost the doubles point to No. 7 Monmouth but rolled in singles to earn a 4-1 win. Campbell again secured the decisive point for the Phoenix after Martin, Ben Zipay and Veljko Krstic won their contests.
• In a rematch of the 2022 championship match, No. 1 UNCW defeated Elon 4-1 to defend its conference title. 
• Last year marked the first time since joining the CAA that Elon has advanced to the championship match in consecutive years. 

 
THE LEONARD ERA

• Head coach Michael Leonard is entering his 20th season leading the Phoenix.
• During Leonard's time at Elon, he has compiled an impressive 290-172 record and led the program to three NCAA Tournament appearances. He also guided the maroon and gold to its maiden CAA championship in 2019. 
• Since joining the CAA in 2014, Leonard has led Elon to three conference championship matches, with all three coming in the last four editions of the tournament. Only UNCW and William & Mary have qualified for more CAA championship matches since Elon joined the conference. 
• Elon has won at least one match in all its appearances in the CAA Tournament. The Phoenix has advanced to at least the semifinals in eight consecutive seasons. 
• Leonard was named CAA Coach of the Year in 2019 and took home Southern Conference Coach of the Year on six occasions. 
• Under Leonard's leadership, the program has amassed 74 all-conference selections, six conference players of the year, six conference rookies of the year, while three singles players and two doubles teams have earned bids to the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships.
• Leonard welcomes first-year assistant coach Garcian D'Cruz to his staff for the 2024. 

 
SCOUTING FAIRFIELD

• Sunday's match kicks off a stretch of three matches in North Carolina over a three-day span for Fairfield, as the Stags will face Gardner-Webb on Monday and UNC Greensboro on Tuesday. 
• Fairfield is 3-5 on the season but has won two consecutive matches.
• Since starting the season 0-4, Fairfield has won three of four contests. 
• In its most recent outing, the Stags defeated Fordham 6-1 in its home opener. 
• The Stags are 1-4 in true road matches this season and 2-5 overall away from home. 
• Sunday will mark a return to Elon for Nick Condos, who competed for the Phoenix from 2020-23. During his Elon tenure, Condos racked up 41 doubles and 27 singles victories and earned All-CAA Third Team honors in doubles last season. Condos has three wins across doubles and singles so far this season. 
• Kostas Kollias leads the Stags with three singles victories this season, all of which have come playing the No. 5 position. 
• Four Fairfield players have a pair of singles wins, including Thomas Smart, who has primarily played the No. 1 spot this season. 
• The Stags are just 4-15 in completed doubles matches this season and have won the doubles point in just two of eight matches. 
• Fairfield is led by head coach Jeff Bricker, who is in his 10^th season leading the school's men's and women's teams. 

 
 
UP NEXT
Elon heads to South Carolina for a weekend pair against Wofford and Presbyterian. The Phoenix will face the Terriers on Saturday at 1 p.m. and the Blue Hose on Sunday at 1 p.m.