ELON, N.C. – Reigning Colonial Athletic Association champion Elon rode the momentum of a comeback doubles-point win to a singles sweep and a 7-0 victory over visiting Longwood Tuesday afternoon at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.
Squaring off against the CAA powerhouse on the road, upset-minded Longwood had an opportunity to deal Elon (10-2) its first home loss of the season and started on that track with a 6-1 doubles win at the No. 3 slot from the duo of
Guillermo Cagigas and
Marc Casasnovas. However, the Eagles responded with a 6-3 equalizer at No. 1 and secured the doubles point with a 6-4 barnburner at No. 2.
From there, the Phoenix won all six singles bouts to make the Lancers (4-6) their eighth consecutive home-court victim.
Longwood sophomore
Ernest Rocabert was the lone Lancer to force a third set in singles at No. 5. Rocabert rallied to grind out a 7-5 win in set two and was within striking distance of taking down his No. 5 counterpart Ben Zipay in set three, but Zipay pulled out a 10-7 marathon in the finale to take the match 6-1, 5-7, 10-7.
The loss came as Longwood (4-6) played its second match in the past three days in the midst of a March gauntlet that pits them against seven different teams in a two-week span. The next of those will be this Thursday, March 25, against Mary Washington at the New Lancer Courts.
Elon 7, Longwood 0
March 23, 2021
Elon, N.C. (Jimmy Powell Tennis Center)
Singles
1. SERGIO, Guilherme (LWU) vs. Kyle Frankel (ELON) no result
2. Akram El Sallaly (ELON) def. NAYDENOV, Rosen (LWU) 6-2, 6-2
3. Nicholas Condos (ELON) def. CAGIGAS, Guillermo (LWU) 7-6 (7-2), 6-0
4. Chung-Han Tsai (ELON) def. CASASNOVAS, Marc (LWU) 6-0, 6-3
5. Ben Zipay (ELON) def. ROCABERT, Ernest (LWU) 6-1, 5-7, 10-7
6. Camilo Ponce (ELON) def. No player (LWU), by default
Doubles
1. Chung-Han Tsai/Akram El Sallaly (ELON) def. NAYDENOV, Rosen/SANDOVAL, Ignacio (LWU) 6-3
2. Kyle Frankel/Camilo Ponce (ELON) def. SERGIO, Guilherme/ROCABERT, Ernest (LWU) 6-4
3. CAGIGAS, Guillermo/CASASNOVAS, Marc (LWU) def. Nicholas Condos/Sam Dively (ELON) 6-1
Match Notes
Longwood 4-6
Elon 10-2
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (6,4,2,1,3,5)
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