Men's Tennis Southern Conference

Phoenix Fall to UNC Wilmington, 4-3

ELON, N.C. - The doubles point proved the difference as the teams split the six singles matches and visiting UNC Wilmington came away with the 4-3 victory over Elon in men's tennis action at The Jimmy Powell Tennis Center on Tuesday afternoon. The Seahawks have won three straight to improve to 4-1 on the young season, while the 68th-ranked Phoenix suffered its first loss at home and fell to 3-2 overall.
 
The doubles point has proved crucial in all of the Phoenix matches this year - Elon is 3-0 when winning the point and 0-2 when finding itself in an early hole. UNCW's Illia Ziamtsou and Kosta Blank got off to a quick start for the Seahawks, needing only 40 minutes to pull off an 8-4 victory over Eric Turner and Cody Stauffer-MacDowell at number two.
 
Courts one and three finished at nearly the same time, with Pedro Mol and Michael Pereira taking the 8-6 victory over Cameron Silverman and Alberto Rojas at number three to clinch the point for the Seahawks. At number one, 56th-ranked Philip Nemec and Chase Helpingstine defeated Kinshuk Sharma and Chris Cooprider, 8-6. The duo is now 3-1 on the season and earned its first national ranking by the ITA on Monday.
 
UNCW jumped out to a 3-0 lead in singles action before Elon battled back. Pereira posted a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Turner at number two and Aita earned a straight-set victory over Helpingstine, 6-1, 6-4, at number four. The Phoenix got on the board when Stauffer-MacDowell defeated Ziamtsou, 6-2, 7-6 (5) on court six.
 
With the score at 3-1, the Seahawks' Cooprider came away with the match-clinching victory earning a three-set win over Rojas, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, at number five. The remaining two matches also went three sets with Elon coming away victorious. Silverman battled back from a set down to knock off Blank, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 at number three, and Nemec earned a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 win over Sharma at the top singles spot.
 
Elon will look to rebound from the loss against some tough competition on the road this weekend, beginning with a bout against VCU on Saturday at 2 p.m.