The Elon University men’s tennis team cruised past in-state rival Davidson College on Sunday, March 9, winning in decisive fashion 6-1.
“I feel like we’re getting stronger and I’m happy about the performance,” Elon head coach Michael Leonard said.
The Phoenix went ahead, early sweeping the doubles portion of the match to take a 1-0 lead. Juniors Stefan Fortmann and Juan Madrid defeated sophomore Alex Howard and senior Connor Evins 8-1 at No. 3 doubles. Senior Cameron Silverman and junior Jordan Kaufman sealed the doubles point for Elon with an 8-3 win over senior Ethan Kallick and sophomore Evan Watkins. Junior Brian Kowalski and sophomore Robert Lindgren completed the doubles sweep defeating senior Robert Lightbourn and freshman Ricky Saad 8-4 at No. 2 doubles.
Elon continued to roll into the singles portion of the match. Madrid made quick work of freshman Jordan Hart at No. 6 singles dropping just one game in his 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 6 singles. Next was Madrid at No. 5 singles, and Kaufman also won in straight sets defeating Saad 6-0, 6-2.
Silverman clinched the victory for the Phoenix at No. 1 singles with a straight sets victory of his own defeating Lightbourn easily 6-2, 6-1. Fortmann made it 5-0 in favor of Elon with another straight sets victory. Fortmann brushed past freshman J.B. Gough at No. 4 singles 6-2, 6-2.
“I think everybody did a good job keeping their intensity up and as you can see from the results, everybody played pretty well today,” Silverman said.
Davidson fought back to earn a point as Evins defeated Lindgren at No. 2 singles 6-2, 6-3. Kowalski wrapped up the duel match with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Kallick at No. 3 singles.
“It was nice to see Brian comeback from a 5-2 deficit,” Leonard said.
With the win, the Phoenix improves to 8-3 on the year and remains perfect in the Southern Conference at 3-0.
“We have the type of talent and ability that if we bring it every day, we can beat anybody in our conference,” said Silverman.
Elon will wrap up its home stand Wednesday, March 12 when Campbell University comes to town. The match is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.