The weather outside was less than ideal, but the Elon University women’s tennis team felt just fine inside the comforts of the ECU Indoor Tennis Facility, as the team cruised to a 4-0 defeat of East Carolina University March 6 in Greenville, N.C.
The win was the sixth straight for the Phoenix and improved the team’s record to 6-4 on the season. It was also the team’s fourth straight sweep and fifth in the past six matches.
Senior Jordan Johnston and junior Barbora Lazarova led the way to another sweep of the doubles action for Elon, as the pair defeated junior Dana Gray and freshman Maria Storozheva, 8-3. On court No. 2, senior Frida Jansaker and junior Maria Camara Ruiz secured the doubles point for the Phoenix by handling freshmen Michelle Castro and Emily Groeneveld by the same margin. The doubles match on court No. 3, which pitted senior Bryn Khoury and sophomore Taylor Casey against senior Melis Tanik and freshman Betsy Zurawel of the Pirates, went unfinished. Khoury and Casey led the match, 7-5.
Elon took a 1-0 lead into singles play, and triumphed on all three courts. On court No. 2, Jansaker defeated Storozheva, 6-1, 6-2, while Lazarova topped Groeneveld on court No. 3 by the same score to give the Phoenix a 3-0 lead in the match. Johnston’s 6-3, 6-4 win over Castro on court No. 1 secured the 4-0 win for the Phoenix.
The threat of wintry driving conditions for Elon cut the remaining singles matches short. Khoury led Gray, 4-1, while Casey trailed Zurawel, 1-3, upon suspension of play.
The Phoenix will play another nonconference match before entering back into Southern Conference play, as the team will take on Gardner-Webb University at 2:30 p.m. March 11 at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.