GREENSBORO, N.C. – Following a convincing sweep over Bellarmine on Friday night, junior
Madison Cordisco could not help but recognize the potential the Elon University women's tennis team has continued to flash in its first three matches of the season.
The win over the Knights moved the Phoenix to 3-0, marking Elon's best start since the 2016-17 campaign. Cordisco explained that because the team has come out of the gates so strong, she believes the early season success will continue.
"The momentum early is definitely going to help us in the long run," Cordisco said. "We're playing very, very well and it's only January, so the sky's the limit for this team and we're going to do really, really well. We're going to keep working on things that we can improve on, and we [have] some good success coming."
The camaraderie is evident from top to bottom of the entire roster, and Cordisco said she believes Elon's impressive play has a lot to do with the team's remarkable off-the-court chemistry.
"All eight of us are like sisters, we hang out together even off the court, so our bond is literally perfect," Cordisco said.
"Off the court, we're still hanging out, we can never get enough time with each other, and I think that's really what helps the team bonding. We do a lot of bonding exercises as well, in the van, when we're going to and from practice, to make sure the team dynamic is pretty solid," Cordisco added.
Although Friday's match was clinched early on by the Phoenix, the remaining singles matches were played out. Even with the win secured, every single member of the Elon team who was not amidst a match was cheering for their fellow teammates.
"By myself, I'm out there, but as a team, we're all together, I can hear everybody screaming. Just all of my teammates make me want to do better myself," Cordisco said.
Cordisco, who was only able to play in two singles matches last year due to injuries, has already surpassed her total number of singles matches played this season.
With a perfect 3-0 singles campaign record so far this season, Cordisco said that she finally feels like she is at full strength and can tap into her full potential now that she doesn't have to deal with any nagging injuries or setbacks.
"This is the first time I don't have any pain and just played freely, which is a really good feeling," Cordisco said.
"Coming out and not having to worry about anything is honestly the best feeling ever, because the first two years I struggled with that. I was always very tentative," Cordisco added.
Elon is slated to return to the court on Sunday, Jan. 26 for a 4 p.m. tilt against Wake Forest (3-1) in Winston-Salem. The only match that the Demon Deacons have dropped this season came in a tightly contested 4-3 loss to No. 18 Tennessee.
Even with Wake's impressive resume, Cordisco is confident that the Phoenix will be able to stack up well against the Power Four opponent.
"Coach [Elizabeth Anderson] just said, go out there, give it your all, they're just people at the end of the day. Just because they're a higher school I guess, it doesn't really matter," Cordisco said. "We're going to go out, give it our all and just compete as a team like we do every match, every time we get the chance to play."
'Rising Phoenix' is a student-led initiative to cover Elon Athletics. Through innovative content creation and storytelling, Elon University students will have the opportunity to highlight the moments, people and events that make an impact, leveraging the athletic department's various web and social media platforms for distribution. Follow Rising Phoenix on X (@EURisingPhoenix) and Instagram (@elonrisingphoenix). Interested in joining this initiative as a content creator (video, graphics, writing, storytelling, or more)? Contact Chase Strawser at cstrawser@elon.edu.
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