The Elon University women’s tennis team earned its fourth straight win at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center by being the University of South Carolina at Upstate 6-1 Friday afternoon.
“We had a very good day today,” said head coach Elizabeth Anderson. “I think our doubles was much improved from the last game.”
The Phoenix started by winning the doubles point with victories at all three doubles pairings, its first doubles point over a Division I school in nearly a month. Anderson said the team has been “fine tuning our strategy and pattern a little bit more” and was very pleased with team’s performance in doubles play.
The Phoenix dominated singles play as well, featuring a straight-set 6-0, 6-0 win by junior Erica Braschi at the No. 1 singles position. Freshmen Sofia Edo extended her singles win streak to five today in the No. 5 spot in a quick 6-2 and 6-1 win over Spartan freshman Taylor Dodd.
“We have a very strong lineup and I have a lot of confidence in everybody,” Braschi said of her team’s singles play today. “We got a lot of good wins at four and six and number two, so its is a good confidence booster."
The win improves Elon to 6-3 on the season, but the Phoenix will have to quickly turnaround to face Davidson College at noon Saturday. The back-to-back matches at home is similar to what the team would face in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) tournament, which will be held at Elon April 20-23. As the season progresses the team will have at least two more opportunities to test drive and prepare for the back-to-back matches that the tournament will hopefully bring.
“It is good from the mental toughness perspective to see them pushed in back-to-back games and to see how they respond to get ready for that tournament, Anderson said.