Elon Wins Men's Tennis Tournament Title

No. 1 Elon 4, No. 2 Furman 1

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Elon Phoenix captured the 2014 Southern Conference Men’s Tennis Tournament championship with a 4-1 win over Furman Saturday at the Champions Club.  The Phoenix, who won the SoCon regular season crown, earned their first tournament title since 2007.

Elon (19-4) started the match by capturing the doubles point with a win at No. 2.  Trailing 4-0, the team of Brian Kowalski and Robert Lindgren rallied for an 8-5 decision to give the Phoenix the point.  Earlier in the doubles portion of the match, Elon’s Stefan Fortmann and Juan Madrid earned an 8-2 victory over Ben Horst and Alex Christ at No. 3.  Furman’s top tandem of Matt Browne and Joel Cook scored an 8-5 win at No. 1.

Cameron Silverman, the 2014 Southern Conference Player of the Year, gave Elon a 2-0 lead with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Adam Steryous at No. 1 singles.

Furman (16-9) cut Elon’s lead to 2-1 when Juan Sheppard claimed a 6-4, 6-3 win over Jordan Kaufman at the No. 5 spot.  It was Sheppard’s third singles win of the tournament.

Brian Kowalski posted a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Joel Cook at No. 4 singles to give Elon a 3-1 lead in the match.  Stefan Fortmann’s three-set win at No. 2 was the clinching point for Elon.  Fortmann won the first set over Matt Browne, 6-4, but dropped the second frame, 2-6.  The junior was able to claim the third set, 6-1, to give Elon the win.

Silverman was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player as he won all three of his singles matches in straight sets during the tournament.