WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – A thrilling doubles point put the Elon University women's tennis team up 1-0 against No. 31 Wake Forest on Friday night, but the Demon Deacons rallied in singles to defeat the Phoenix 6-1. 

BOX SCORE (PDF)
 
The doubles point was Elon's first against an ITA ranked opponent in its last 12 attempts. The match was played indoors due to evening rain in Winston-Salem.
 
With the loss, the Phoenix fell to 11-6 on the season, while the Demon Deacons improved to 13-7. 
 
THE RUNDOWN

• With a pair of wins at the Nos. 1 and 3 spots, Elon converted its 12th doubles point in the last 13 matches. 
• Playing on Court 1, Sibel Tanik and Lizette Reding won 6-3 for their ninth win of the season and 33^rd together overall. The duo broke early to take a 3-1 lead but were broken back in the next game. However, Elon's No. 1 pairing responded by breaking again in the sixth game and this time consolidated the break to take a 5-2 lead. After Wake held serve, Tanik served out the match and the victory. 
• After Wake Forest evened doubles with a win on Court 2, the freshman duo of Simone Bergeron and Ella Suk clinched the point with a dramatic 6-4 victory, their team-best 10^th of the season. Like Tanik and Reding, the freshmen raced out to a 5-2 lead before the Demon Deacons got the match back on serve at 5-4. Bergeron and Suk went ahead 0-30 in Wake Forest's next service game before the Demon Deacons won three straight points. However, Elon's freshmen won the next point to force a deuce point, which they converted to secure doubles for the Phoenix. 
• The victorious doubles point was Elon's first in nine tries against Wake Forest. 
• This was the first time Elon has won the doubles point against a team positioned in the ITA team rankings since the Phoenix took doubles against No. 41 William & Mary in the semifinals of the 2018 CAA Tournament. 
• Wake Forest responded in singles, winning the first four matches to finish in straight sets to go ahead 4-1. 
• The Phoenix forced decisive match tiebreaks at both Nos. 5 and 6 singles. Helen Sarikulaya won her second set 6-1 against Wake Forest's Mia Ahmad before falling in her match tiebreak. Bergeron overcame a mini-break deficit in a second set tiebreak to force a match tiebreak on Court 6. Wake's Jingyi Li ultimately won the match tiebreak 10-7 to wrap up a 6-1 Demon Deacons victory.  

 
UP NEXT
Elon plays its third straight road match on March 26 when it faces CAA rival College of Charleston at 1:30 p.m. It will be Elon's third contest against a conference opponent this season, with the Phoenix having won the previous two against Hampton and Campbell.
 
RESULTS
Singles
1. No. 35 Casie Wooten (Wake) def. Lizette Reding (Elon) 6-0, 6-0
2. Nevena Carton (Wake) def. Sibel Tanik (Elon) 6-2, 6-3
3. Sankavi Gownder (Wake) def. Mariana Reding (Elon) 6-1, 6-2
4. Whitley Pate (Wake) def. Ella Suk (Elon) 6-0, 6-2
5. Mia Ahmad (Wake) def. Helen Sarikulaya (Elon) 7-5, 1-6, 10-2
6. Jingyi Li (Wake) def. Simone Bergeron (Elon) 6-4, 6-7 (4), 10-7
 
Doubles
1. Sibel Tanik/Lizette Reding (Elon) def. Brooke Killingsworth/Jingyi Li (Wake) 6-3
2. Whitley Pate/Casie Wooten (Wake) def. Madison Cordisco/Mariana Reding (Elon) 6-2
3. Simone Bergeron/Ella Suk (Elon) def. Mia Ahmad/Sankavi Gownder (Wake) 6-4
 
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (1,3,4,2,5,6)