The Elon University men’s tennis team got off to a good start in Southern Conference play by defeating The Citadel 6-1 on Sunday, March 3. The convincing win started off when the Phoenix won all three doubles matches to start the day. Coming in ranked No. 26 in the country, junior Cameron Silverman and sophomore Stefan Fortmann defeated senior David Orces and freshman Oliver Dedding, 8-2 in the No. 1 doubles match.
At No. 2 doubles, sophomore Brian Kowalski and freshman Robert Lindgren defeated sophomore Peter Bleach and junior Dillion Berkabile, 8-4. Finally, sophomores Juan Madrid and Jordan Kaufmann defeated junior Elliot Sperr and sophomore Alex Howle, 8-3, in No. 3 doubles match.
Kaufman won the first singles match of the afternoon by making quick work of Howle winning 6-1, 6-1. Madrid was the second Phoenix player to win his singles match when he defeated Sperr in straight sets, 6-4, 6-0 in the No. 6 singles match.
Silverman’s 6-4, 6-1 straight sets victory in top singles match over David Orces clinched the victory for the Phoenix. Fortmann also won his match in straight sets, but needed a second set tiebreaker to defeat Berkabile 6-3, 7-5 (7-3).
Silverman, Kaufman, and Fortmann have had very successful season and each are tied for a team high four victories on the season.
Elsewhere, Lindgren defeated Bleach at No. 3 singles, winning 7-6, 6-4. Kowalski was the only member of the Phoenix to lose on the afternoon. He fell to junior James Atkinson at No. 5 singles in a long three set match that finished 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 10-8.
The win gets Elon over the .500 mark at 4-3 on the season and 1-0 in the Southern Conference. The loss drops The Citadel to 5-3 and 0-2 in conference play. The Phoenix has a quick turnaround as they host Radford University on Wednesday, March 6. The match is set to begin at 2 p.m. at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.