RICHMOND, Va. – The Elon men's tennis team (4-9) dropped a 4-3 road decision Saturday against VCU (5-9) to close out its two-match Virginia road trip.

The Rams took the doubles point to go ahead 1-0. After the teams split the first two singles matches, the final four contests went to decisive third sets. The Rams won two of four of those matches to clip the Phoenix.

The Rundown

• VCU took the doubles point with wins at the Nos. 1 and 2 spots.
• Oskar Antinheimo and Rafael Ymer were knotted at 4-4 against Mats Bredschneijder and Leon Zaorski on Court 3 when their match was stopped.
• The Rams stretched their lead to 2-0 with a win at No. 3 singles.
• Veljko Krstic cut VCU's lead in half with a 6-3, 6-2 triumph at the No. 1 spot against Erwann Bouchet. It was Krstic's second straight victory, as the senior also won in straight sets in yesterday's win at William & Mary. Krstic dropped more than three games in just one of his four winning sets during the Virginia road swing.
• VCU won in a third set at No. 6 singles to go back ahead by two, 3-1.
• Ymer came through a third set at the No. 2 spot to again bring the Phoenix back within one. After splitting the first two sets, Ymer took down Nicolo Consonni in a third to win 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. It was Ymer's team-best ninth singles victory of the spring and the second to come in a deciding set in as many days. The sophomore is 3-1 in deciding sets this season.
• The Rams grabbed the deciding point with a three-set win on Court 4. Jack Curtis forced a final set after dropping the first, but Alfred Almasi won the final four games in the match to secure a VCU victory.
• Antinheimo added a third point for Elon with a comeback victory on Court 5. After Antinheimo and Zaorski split the first two sets, Zaorski went up by a break early in the third. However, Antinheimo battled back to level the score at 5-5 and then won the final two games to win 6-1, 3-6, 7-5. It was the senior's fourth singles victory of the spring, three of which have come in the last five matches.
• Elon is yet to win a match this season after losing the doubles point.
• This was just the third match this season the Phoenix won at Nos. 1 and 2 singles. Elon did so in both its matches in Virginia this weekend.

 
Up Next
Elon returns home for a weekend set at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center, with matches against Georgia Southern on Friday at 4 p.m. and Old Dominion on Sunday at noon.

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Results
Singles
1. No. 116 Veljko Krstic (Elon) def. Erwann Bouchet (VCU) 6-3, 6-2
2. Rafael Ymer (Elon) def. Nicolo Consonni (VCU) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
3. Gevorg Mnatsakanyan (VCU) def. Nikola Parichkov (Elon) 6-4, 6-1
4. Alfred Almasi (VCU) def. Jack Curtis (Elon) 6-3, 1-6, 6-2
5. Oskar Antinheimo (Elon) def. Leon Zaorski (VCU) 6-1, 3-6, 7-5
6. Patrik Petera (VCU) def. Charles Pilet (Elon) 6-4, 4-6, 6-1
 
Doubles
1. Gevorg Mnatsakanyan/Erwann Bouchet (VCU) def. Veljko Krstic/Nikola Parichkov (Elon) 6-3
2. Alfred Almasi/Nicolo Consonni (VCU) def. Nick Fisk/Charles Pilet (Elon)
3. Oskar Antinheimo/Rafael Ymer (Elon) vs. Mats Bredschneijder/Leon Zaorski (VCU) 4-4, unfinished
 
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (3,1,6,2,4,5)