With a mostly home crowd that packed the bleachers of Jimmy Powell Tennis Center, Elon women’s tennis beat the College of Charleston 4-0 in the Coastal Athletic Association Tournament semifinals on April 26. It advances Elon to its second CAA Championship in program history and the first since 2022.
Elon came into the match riding hot off a six-match win streak and an undefeated record in conference play. Elon finished the regular season 17-5 and atop the CAA as the No. 1 seed for the program’s first time. After beating Charleston 7-0 earlier in the season, the Phoenix came ready to play. Head coach Elizabeth Anderson said this team is special and can win the championship.
“They just have a lot of heart and a lot of grit, and we've worked very, extremely hard this year,” Anderson said. “We prepared really hard. We're ready, and we're ready to go after it.”
The day started with the doubles matches, and the No. 1 doubles pairing of sophomores Simone Bergeron and Mariana Reding proved lethal. They entered the day on a 10-match win streak and were 16-3 in the regular season.
Bergeron’s net play was deadly, as her reactive hands at the net gave the duo the opening game quickly off an overhead smash. They got off to a rapid 3-0 start. After winning the third game, Bergeron turned toward the crowd with her fist thrown in the air and let out a guttural scream of passion, igniting the fans. Reding and Bergeron quickly won their match 6-0 in just 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, the No. 3 doubles team of senior Miray Konar and freshman Heidi Bulger struggled to get going and find their rhythm. They started their match by losing a grueling, 7-minute opening game. As No. 1 doubles and No. 2 doubles both got to a 3-0 lead, Konar and Bulger were down 0-3. They ended up losing the match 6-1, leaving the doubles point up to the rackets of No. 2 doubles.
The Elon No. 2 doubles team of freshman Lisa Kranec and junior Helen Sarikulaya started off by going up 3-0 but quickly allowed Charleston to gather momentum as they won three straight games and tied it up at 3-3. Charleston kept going, breaking Sarikulaya’s serve, and won their fifth straight game to go up 5-3. From 0-3 down, Charleston had battled back and were a game away from victory.
Sarikulaya and Kranec tried to pump each other up to get themselves back in it, and Elon fans tried to cheer them back in. It seemed to work as Sarikulaya hit a towering smash at the net to secure Elon’s first game win since being up 3-0. Elon won two games in a row to push it to 5-5. The comeback elicited throngs of cheers from the crowd, and her teammates, standing beside her court, started to chant Elon's name. Sarikulaya said the comeback arose from them trying to hone in on what they could do at the very moment.
“I told my partner, Lisa, to just do our plays, everything that we worked on, and just put our heart out into this match and just do what you can control in the moment,” Sarikulaya said.
Sarikulaya’s serve was broken again as Charleston took a 6-5 advantage, but Elon proceeded to break Charleston’s serve and send it to a tiebreak. Despite the grueling 12 games beforehand, the tiebreak seemed to be all too easy for the Phoenix. Sarikulaya and Kranec got off to a 4-0 lead in the tiebreak and strong serving emerged from the duo. In a match full of long rallies, the tiebreak was uncharacteristically short with Elon’s serves shortening points. The Elon duo completed the comeback, winning 7-6 in a gritty, determined victory.
Sarikulaya said the crowd and their teammates’ support played a big role in the victory and said that it gave them the “switch” that they needed.
Anderson was proud of the duo’s resilience and appreciated the support from her teammates throughout the comeback.
“I'm so proud of the way that they fought through it, and it was just an entire team effort; everybody was cheering for each other and super excited and pumped up,” Anderson said. “They just have this will and determination. They were just willing to find a way to get it done.”
Going into the singles matches, Elon needed three wins to advance to the championship. Despite Bergeron’s success in doubles, she struggled to get going at No. 1 singles. She lost the first game quickly, as drop shots, precise topspin on the ball and strong baseline play by Charleston led to a first set loss, 6-3. Sarikulaya at No. 3 singles also didn’t do well, going down 3-1, and ended up losing her opening set 6-2. On the other hand, Bergeron and Sarikulaya’s teammates were finding success. Reding, who played at No. 2 singles, and Kranec both found their rhythm quickly. Reding won the first set 6-2, and followed it up by going up 4-0 in the second set and finishing it by winning the set 6-1 to secure the first singles point for Elon.
Meanwhile, Bergeron finally started to see the ball well and was building up momentum. She started the second set up 2-1. She managed to go up 4-3, but her match wasn’t needed for the Phoenix to advance. Bulger, who was serving for the match at No. 4 singles, delivered a powerful serve and won her match 6-2, 6-2. Shortly after, junior Madison Cordisco wrapped up the victory for Elon, winning 6-1, 6-1.
Elon will play three-time defending champion William & Mary at 10 a.m. tomorrow April 27 for the championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, a rematch of the 2022 CAA championship.
Sarikulaya said the closeness of the team differentiates it from the 2022 squad and gives them a good chance to win.
“This year, we are a very united team,” Sarikulaya said. “We do everything together. I consider them as my sisters, and we play as a team. I think there's no other team in this conference that are this close with each other, know the ins and outs. We're so close on court, off court, and we're here to play as a team, not as individuals.”
Elon defeated William & Mary 4-3 recently in its final regular season game. Sarikulaya is excited for a chance to win the program’s first championship.
“We're gonna just go out there and play with our hearts and try to make history,” Sarikulaya said.