Women’s Tennis Faces UNCG at Piedmont Indoor on Friday
History Links ELON, NC — The Elon University women’s tennis team (2-1) returns to the court Friday against UNCG. The contest is due to start at 3 p.m.
The match was originally scheduled to be played at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center, but was moved to the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center in Greensboro due to the risk of cold temperatures and high winds.
COVERAGE The match kicks off with doubles at 3 p.m. and continues with singles shortly after. Live stats will not be available for Friday’s game. Further updates during the match will be provided by the programme’s Twitter account, @ElonWTennis.
HISTORY OF THE VS SERIES. Friday’s game at UNCG will be the 24th all-time meeting between the Phoenix and Spartans. Elon is currently trailing the series 13-10. The Phoenix won the last match between the teams on April 13, 2022. Elon swept the Spartans, winning all sets in doubles and singles.
ABOUT THE PHOENIX The Phoenix enter with a 2-1 record. The team has started 2-1 in two of the past three seasons. Elon is coming off a strong season in 2022 in which he went 17-9 and finished second in the CAA Championship. Returnees include graduate Olivia Archer (third team All-CAA singles); seniors Julie Ball, Shauna Galvin and Sibel Tanik (first team All-CAA singles and second team doubles) and junior Lizette Reding (second team All-CAA singles and doubles). The Phoenix is also welcoming three new sophomores Miray Konar — a transfer from West Carolina — and freshmen Madison Cordisco and Helen Sarikulaya. Konar, of Izmir, Turkey, went 7-5 in singles and 10-6 in doubles as he was mostly second-place for the Catamounts last season. A Pittsburgh native, Cordisco was considered a five-star recruit by tennisrecruiting.net. Sarikulaya, of Rockville, Md., was also a five-star recruit and reached No. 7 in the USTA National All-18 Girl Rankings. Elon is managed by Elizabeth Anderson, who is entering her 19th season at the helm.
THE LAST OUTING Elon beat Houston 6-1 on Jan. 27 for his second straight road win. The Phoenix earned their first doubles point of the season with a pair of narrow wins. Sibel Tanik and Lizette Reding paired up for a 6-4 victory on Court 1 before the freshman duo of Madison Cordisco and Helen Sarikualya won 7-5 on Court 3 to clinch the point for Elon. Julie Ball cruised to a 6-0, 6-3 win over Blanca Cortijo Parreno in fifth place to add to Elon’s lead. It was the third straight match that Ball had finished first in singles. Cordisco picked up their first career doubles singles win in second place, beating Laura Slisane 7-5, 6-1 to give Phoenix a 3-0 lead. Tanik won the match for Elon with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over top-placed Maria Dzemeshkevich. Sarikulaya rallied from a set down to claim a 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 win on Court 4 over Houston’s Sophie Schouten. A 6-3, 7-6 win by Reding on Court 3 gave Phoenix a 6-0 lead. Houston won the final singles match to make the final score 6-1. The win was Elon’s third in a row against an American Athletic Conference opponent.
WRECKING BALL Julie Ball is 3-0 in singles action this season, winning all six sets. The senior has won 36 of her 44 matches in three matches this season, winning four of her sets by a score of 6-0 or 6-1. In all of Elon’s contests this season, Ball was the first player to complete her singles match. Since joining Elon last season, Ball is 15-5 in singles play and has won nine of her last 10 matches.
THE RISE OF ARCHER Olivia Archer’s singles win over Campbell on Jan. 20 was the 57th of her career, giving her fourth place in Elon’s Division I history, breaking a tie with Bryn Khoury (2011-14). The fifth-year senior needs just one more win to tie Barbora Lazarova (2012-15) for the third all-time singles win with 58. Archer needs 11 more singles wins to tie the Frida Jansaker’s all-time record of Elon (2011-14). with 68. After recording 19 singles wins in 2022, tied for third most in a single season in Elon’s Division I history, Archer is off to a 2-1 start in 2023.
TANIK ON A TEAR With Sibel Tanik’s win over Houston, the elder is now 16-7 over the past two seasons ranked No. 1 in singles. Since last season, the senior has won 12 of her last 15 completed singles matches, all in first place. Of Tanik’s 16 singles wins over the past two seasons, 14 have come in straight sets. All of Tanik’s 23 singles appearances over the past two seasons have ranked No. 1.
FRESHING FRESHMEN In Elon’s last two matches, freshmen Madison Cordisco and Helen Sarikulaya have combined for five wins in singles and doubles. The pair won their first doubles match as a team against Houston. It was Cordisco’s first doubles win and second for Sarikulaya, who teamed up with Miray Konar for a win over Campbell. After dropping his first career doubles singles match against No. 2 North Carolina, Sarikulaya responded with a pair of wins over Campbell and Houston. His win over Campbell won the game for the Phoenix. Cordisco’s win over Houston was the first doubles singles victory of his career. She is the first rookie to win a singles match in second place to Elon since Kiana Rizzolo in 2020.
REDING ROLLING Lizette Reding’s third-place singles win over Houston was her second in a row, improving her record this season to 2-1. With the win over the Cougars, the junior is 15-7 in her career at No. 3. Since last season, Reding has won 12 of his last 17 completed singles matches.
SCOUTING UNCG The Spartans enter with a 2-4 record, with four of six home games. The team lost its two road games, falling to Clemson and North Carolina Central. UNCG won their last match 6-1 against Presbyterian on January 29. Arina Babkova is 3-3 for the Spartans this season in the No. 1 singles position, while Raegan Mitchell is off to a 5-0 start against the No. 5 and 6 pitches. The couple of Olivia Gallagher and Hanna Giddings have been the most successful in the UNCG doubles this season, as the duo are 4-2 in first place. The Spartans are led by head coach Paul Thomson.
NEXT
The Phoenix will hit the road Feb. 11 for a game against Atlantic Coast Conference opponent Clemson. The contest is scheduled for an 11 a.m. start.
–ELON–