ELON – The Elon women's tennis team (3-2) begins a five-match homestand Wednesday at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center, hosting North Carolina A&T (1-0). First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Elon vs. North Carolina A&T Briefing
Match Details: Feb. 25, 2026 | Elon, N.C. | Jimmy Powell Tennis Center | 2 p.m.
Admission: Free
The Matchup
- Wednesday will be the 25th all-time meeting between the Phoenix and Aggies. Elon has won all of the previous 24 matches.
- Of the 24 matches, 22 have been Elon sweeps. The Aggies have never taken more than one point off the Phoenix but did win at No. 1 singles last season in a 6-1 Elon victory.
- Elon and North Carolina A&T have played at least once every year since 2015.
- Elon has hosted the Aggies in 21 of the 24 matches in the series. Every meeting in the series since 2007 has been an Elon home match.
Last Time Out
- Elon pushed No. 3 North Carolina on Feb. 17 before ultimately falling 7-0 to the Tar Heels at the Chewning Tennis Center.
- On Court 1, Simone Bergeron and Mariana Reding broke North Carolina's top duo of Tatum Evans and Oby Kajuru in each of their opening two service games. The Elon tandem then came up with a clutch hold to make the score 3-3 before the Tar Heels won the final three games to earn the victory,
- Playing together for the first time this spring, Alexis Nyborg and Helen Sarikulaya went up a break in their match on Court 2. The North Carolina pairing of Reese Brantmeier and Mary Grace Rennard broke back before winning 6-4 to clinch the doubles point.
- Cornelia Kack and Lisa Kranec stayed within touch against Thea Rabman and Claire Hill at the No. 3 spot but could not find a way past the Tar Heels, who held off the Elon duo for a 6-4 victory.
- Elon swept the opening sets at Nos. 4-6 singles.
- Sarikulaya won her opening set against Rennard on Court 6, 7-5, and went up a break in the second set. The senior served for the match at 5-3 but Rennard won the next four games forcing a match tiebreak. Sarikulaya was forced to retire in the breaker, giving Rennard the victory.
- Nyborg rallied late in her first set against Hill at the No. 5 spot, winning the final three games for a 7-5 victory. Hill fought back to win the next two sets and the match.
- On Court 4, Kranec won a marathon opening set in a tiebreak (7-5) against Rabman, who answered by taking the second set to force a decisive third. Kranec fell behind 5-1 in the final set but won three consecutive games to get back in the match. However, Rabman won the 5-4 game to stave off the comeback bid.
- Kack put a fourth Elon set on the board at the No. 2 spot, taking the second against Kajuru, the No. 7 player in the current ITA rankings, 6-4, to force a deciding frame. Kack, who was named CAA Co-Player of the Week earlier on Tuesday, went down an early break in the final set but came from 0-40 down in a Kajuru service game to get back on serve trailing 3-2. Kajuru won the next three games to hold off another strong Phoenix effort.
- At No. 1 singles, Brantmeier, who won the NCAA singles championship in the fall, won the first eight games, but Bergeron broke back and held to level the second set at 2-2. However, the No. 1 ranked ITA singles player reeled off the next four for a victory.
- The loss snapped Elon's three-match winning streak.
About The Phoenix
- Elon won its first ever CAA championship in the spring, winning the CAA Tournament at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center with a victory over three-time defending champion William & Mary in the final.
- The Phoenix earned the CAA's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and faced No. 10 Tennessee in the opening round. Elon finished the season with a 19-6 overall record, which included a 15-2 mark at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.
- Simone Bergeron returns for her junior season after a breakout campaign last spring that saw her take home CAA Women's Tennis Player of the Year. Bergeron went 12-9 playing No. 1 singles and clinched Elon's CAA title with her three-set victory against William & Mary. She also went 20-4 in doubles and earned First Team All-CAA recognition in both doubles and singles.
- Bergeron's primary doubles partner last season was Mariana Reding, who also earned First Team All-CAA honors in doubles. Reding, who returns this season as a junior, went 16-6 playing Nos. 2-4 singles and won 18 doubles contests alongside Bergeron in the spring.
- Senior Helen Sarikulaya also received All-CAA recognition in both singles (Third Team) and doubles (Second Team). She won 12 singles matches, eight of which came at the No. 2 spot, to go along with 13 victories in doubles.
- Lisa Kranec earned All-CAA Second Team recognition in doubles after tallying 12 wins alongside Sarikulaya. She also posted 17 singles victories in her freshman campaign, with 13 coming at the No. 6 spot.
- Also back for the Phoenix is senior Madison Cordisco, who finished second on the team last season with 17 singles triumphs. She went 14-4 at the No. 5 position.
- Elon welcomes three newcomers this season – Cornelia Kack, Alexis Nyborg and Nathalie Marinovitch.
- Kack joined the Phoenix after earning All-CAA Third Team honors in doubles last season as a freshman at Delaware. Nyborg came to Elon following two successful seasons at UNC Asheville, where she earned All-Big South First Team honors in singles in 2025. Marinovitch, a native of Cochabamba, Bolivia, is Elon's lone freshman.
- Elon is led by reigning CAA Coach of the Year Elizabeth Anderson, who is in her 22nd season leading the Phoenix. She is joined by first-year assistant coach Allie Gretkowski, who played college tennis at South Carolina and Louisville.
Kack Attack
- Kack earned CAA Co-Player of the Week honors on Feb. 17 after a dominant stretch in which she posted multiple singles and doubles wins for the Phoenix.
- Prior to her matchup against No. 3 UNC, Kack had recorded singles and doubles victories in three straight matches, dropping just eight total games across those singles wins and claiming three 6-0 sets during the run.
- Her streak was snapped against UNC, but she continued her strong play by taking a set off Oby Kajuru, the No. 7-ranked player in the ITA standings, pushing the nationally ranked Tar Heel to three sets at the No. 2 singles position.
- Kack has also formed one of Elon's most reliable doubles pairings alongside Kranec, with the duo leading the team in doubles wins this spring.
Super Simone
- Bergeron had a prolific sophomore campaign, becoming the first Elon player to win both CAA Player of the Year and CAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player.
- She picked up 20 doubles victories in her sophomore campaign, tied for the third most in a season by an Elon player.
- All 12 of Bergeron's singles victories last spring came at the No. 1 position, which included the CAA title clinching win against William & Mary.
- Bergeron has compiled 60 dual wins across singles and doubles in her first three campaigns with the Phoenix. She won at least 12 matches in both singles and doubles in each of her first two seasons.
- This fall, Bergeron was selected as the CAA's singles representative at ITA Conference Masters. She was the first Elon player to compete at the event.
The Anderson Era
- Head coach Elizabeth Anderson is entering her 22nd season leading the maroon and gold.
- Anderson has turned Elon into a consistent winner. Under her guidance, the Phoenix has posted 19 consecutive winning seasons, all of which have included double-digit victories.
- Since joining the CAA in the 2014-15 season, Elon has won at least one match in all 10 of its CAA Tournament appearances. Anderson led the program to the CAA championship match for the first time in 2022 and its first CAA title in 2025 to earn an NCAA Tournament bid.
- In Elon's final season in the Southern Conference, Anderson led the maroon and gold to the program's first NCAA Tournament berth in 2013. The Phoenix won its first Southern Conference championship that season to qualify.
- Since taking over as head coach in 2005, Anderson has tallied 311 victories at Elon. Her winning percentage is 62% in 501 career matches.
- Anderson was named CAA Coach of the Year in 2025, the second time in her career she earned the honor.
- Elon has also been a strong performer in the classroom during Anderson's tenure. The program has earned All-ITA Academic Team honors in 20 consecutive seasons.
Home Court Reign
- Wednesday marks the start of a five-match homestand for Elon.
- The Phoenix enter Wednesday's match undefeated at home this season, winning all three contests, though only one has been played at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.
- Since 2020, Elon has compiled a dominant 75-10 record on its home courts. The Phoenix have not dropped more than two home matches in a single season during that span.
- Last year marked Elon's strongest home performance of the stretch, finishing 15-2 for an .882 winning percentage.
Scouting North Carolina A&T
- The Aggies are 1-0 on the season after sweeping Livingstone in their season opener on Feb. 17.
- In the win over Livingstone, the Aggies dropped just one game across three doubles contests and seven games in six straight-set singles victories.
- Hana El Sherif played the No. 1 singles spot against Livingstone. She won nine dual matches a season ago, primarily playing the No. 3 position.
- Juana Gomez Weiss, Flavia Villegas and Randy Rakotoarilala all return for the Aggies this season. Gomez Weiss led the Aggies with 11 victories in 2025, with Villegas (10) and Rakotoarilala (9) close behind.
- The Aggies are coming off a 9-10 campaign last spring, with all nine of the victories coming away from home.
- North Carolina A&T is led by fifth-year head coach Dejon Bivens.
Stay Posted
For further coverage of Elon women's tennis, follow the Phoenix on X (@ElonWTennis), Instagram (elonwtennis) and Facebook (Elon Women's Tennis).
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