The Elon University men’s tennis team was denied a Coastal Athletic Association championship by the University of North Carolina, Wilmington for the fourth straight year April 27. It was a gritty effort by the Phoenix, but a doubles defeat along with an initial loss in singles proved too much to overcome.
Elon entered the match as one of the CAA’s hottest teams. The team was the winner in 8 of its last 10 games, and was fresh off a 4-1 victory against Monmouth on April 26.
However, one of the team’s weaknesses was doubles matches, which proved to be the case early on. Elon finished the regular season 19-21 in doubles, and although it righted the ship against Monmouth, those struggles were present while playing UNCW.
Elon’s No. 1 doubles pair of juniors Veljko Krstic and Oskar Antinheimo struggled to generate momentum. They weren’t able to break UNCW’s serves and couldn’t sustain rallies.
Elon’s No. 3 doubles pairing of freshman Charles Pilet and senior Juan Sengariz didn’t fare much better. A combination of good shots and lengthy rallies by UNCW’s No. 3 pair sealed a doubles victory. Elon was outscored by a combined 12-4 in each doubles loss.
In singles, Elon played with a sense of desperation. Sophomore Jack Curtis wasted no time getting the Phoenix on the board, winning his singles sets 6-2 and 6-3 thanks to some spin-heavy shots. The win knotted Elon up with UNCW 1-1.
Pilet tried to replicate Curtis’ success in his singles match. With lengthy rallies, he forced a tiebreaker in the first set that he lost. The second set didn’t go much better as Pilet was defeated 6-3.
That turned out to be a microcosm of Elon’s other singles matches. Despite pushing UNCW to the limit multiple times, the team always seemed to have an answer to every attempt. Two of the matches went into a deciding third set while another was decided by a tiebreaker.
The Phoenix won the first singles match to go into three sets thanks to an impressive comeback by Sengariz. After losing the first set, he battled back to win the next two by scores of 6-3 and 6-2.
Elsewhere, freshman Rafael Ymer relentlessly tried to stage a comeback to put Elon up 3-2. After losing 6-4, Ymer forced a tiebreaker behind a mix of forehand and backhand shots. However, he narrowly fell short, putting UNCW within one win of a championship.
On court three, Antinheimo managed to force a third set behind some long rallies and powerful shots. In the final set, Antinheimo did his best to spoil UNCW’s championship bid, extending the majority of his rallies. However, it wouldn’t be enough, as a powerful forehand shot by Jordi Domenech clinched a fourth straight championship for UNCW.
The victory put an end to an otherwise successful season from first-year head coach Maciek Skyut. He took a team that started the season 0-3 and finished within one win of a championship. But for this year, it is another unfortunate ending that has ended the same way the past four years.
Skyut was unavailable for comment after the game.