Men's tennis wins regular season championship, eyes on tournament title

• Senior Chase Helpingstine is one of four seniors who have led the Phoenix to a regular season SoCon title. He has won 17 straight doubles matches. File photo by Brian Allenby.
  

For the last three years, the men's tennis team reached the finals of the Southern Conference tournament, only to falter each year.
This year's team is halfway to reversing that trend as it clinched the regular season SoCon title as it defeated the Appalachian State University Mountaineers 6-1 Thursday, April 14.

"This makes the ring seem even more special than if we had just gotten it freshman year, since now we value the hard work," senior Alberto Rojas said.

Coach Michael Leonard said that the hard work over the last four years is the real reason the team has been able to succeed so far this year.

"It feels great to see how hard the team has worked to get to this point, especially after coming so close the last three years," Leonard said. "It started with our four senior leaders, and worked its way through the team."

The Phoenix got off to a fast start in its championship-clinching match by winning its 11th straight doubles point. Top doubles partners, seniors Chase Helpingstine and Philip Nemec earned their 17th straight victory, and finished their league slate with a perfect 10-0 mark.

In all, Elon won seven of nine matches against the Mountaineers, as the Phoenix handed Appalachian State their first home loss of the season. All four Elon seniors — Helpingstine, Nemec, Alberto Rojas and Cody Stauffer-MacDowell — won their matches en route to the Phoenix victory.

"Having shared so many experiences with our other three seniors coming so close in three titles makes it all the more fulfilling," Rojas said. "Since we have been through so much together and have become so close, so it is nice to see them succeed as well."

Through the culmination of the past four years, Leonard has been able to see the improvement of the seniors to reach their ultimate goal, winning a SoCon title.

"When these seniors came in to the program, they started low, mostly as the sixth and seventh man," Leonard said. "To see how much they've grown in four years, and to come so close the past few years really makes this year's championship fun to see."

The Phoenix travels to Chattanooga to compete in the SoCon tournament, with its first matches scheduled for Thursday, April 21. As the No. 1 seed, the Phoenix will play the winner of the No. 8 and No. 9 matchup.

"We know that we have enough talent in this team to take on the championship," Rojas said. "We are just getting ready to go out there, have fun and play with no fear."

Last year in the SoCon tournament, the Phoenix had the No. 4 seed. After winning its first round matchup, Elon lost to UNC Greensboro 4-3 in the SoCon championship. To overcome a fourth second-place finish in the tournament, Leonard plans to mentally prepare the tennis team this week.

"It's all about them getting their mind right," Leonard said. "Getting the No.1 seed was a good start, we just have to keep playing aggressively and get to a quick start."