Both the men and womens tennis teams played in double-header action last Saturday. The Phoenix women jumped to 4-2 overall after dispatching visiting Catawba [5-5] 6-1 and Winston Salem State [0-5] 7-0. In similar fashion, the Phoenix men [4-1] won both matches in its double-header by sweeping their counterparts from Catawba [8-2] and Winston Salem State [1-3] by scores of 7-0 in each match.

In both matches, head coach Mike Leonard was able to switch up his line-up, allowing players who dont normally play to get some needed experience. Neither Damon Gooch nor Anuwat Dolodom played in either match, allowing Kevin Beard, Kevin Colin, Alexander Garret, Clark Howell and Kyle Smialack to see their first singles action of the season.

Everyone practices hard during the week, Leonard said, its nice to get [those] hard workers playing time.

Elon is a team with great depth, having 11 players that can play with the likes of Catawba and Winston Salem State.

While the route was on last Saturday, the Phoenix schedule will become more difficult in the upcoming weeks. Following a match at Charlotte today, the Phoenix will travel to Columbia, S.C. on Sunday for a match up against the 36th ranked team in the country, The University of South Carolina.

This match could be a parameter for the Phoenixs SoCon schedule. South Carolina [6-2] has already beaten SoCon teams Wofford, Appalachian State and Davidson. USC also has four of their top five players back from a team that earned a trip to the NCAA tournament last year, including senior Pedro Rodrigues, who won the A-1 singles flight at the UNC Fall Invitational, and junior Jaime Cuellar who won all-SEC honors last season. The USC Gamecocks and Phoenix have had one common foe thus far that both teams lost to. The Wake Forest Demon Deacons, ranked 26 in the nation, beat USC 4-2 and Elon 5-2.

The prospect of playing a team with the talent of South Carolina might overwhelm many teams, but Leonard suggests the balance schedule of playing four or five ranked teams and some teams where [the team] can show its depth are crucial to preparing for the SoCon schedule. Elons SoCon play begins on March 3 at home against Wofford.

Wofford [4-1] has a good win against Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference powerhouse South Carolina State by a score of 4-3, the same score Elon defeated S.C. State by. Wofford is led by junior Andrew Stubbs at the one spot and sophomore Scott Collins at the three spot. Collins is riding a three-match win streak while Stubbs has won his last two. Both players have 3-2 singles records on the year. While freshman Christopher Williams is the only other singles player with a winning record, all three of the Wofford Terriers doubles teams have winning records.

The Phoenix should be in good shape either way, but winning the doubles point could break the spirit of a team that has relied on doubles for success. The other common opponent for Wofford and Elon was Gardner-Webb. Both teams won, but Elon looked more impressive with the 7-0 victory verse Woffords 5-2 win.

Reporter: Jeff Bambrick - 02/22/07