By Marlene Estenssoro 

ELON – North Carolina A&T freshman Cielo Tapia-Cruz came close to winning her first collegiate match on Monday before her path to victory got halted. 

On Tuesday at Elon, nothing slowed her down as she won at No. 3 singles at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. The Elon Phoenix went on to win the match with a 6-1 win. 

On Monday, Tapia-Cruz had a 6-1, 3-1 lead at home against Anderson, but the Trojans had already won four matches and thereby clinched the win before Tapia-Cruz could complete the victory. But just a day later, she beat Elon's Alison O'Dea 6-3, 6-4. 

" I am happy that I won my match, it was intense and not easy, but I worked hard on each point," said Tapia-Cruz. 

Elon did win the doubles point. Elon received a forfeit win at No. 3 doubles. At No. 1 doubles, the Aggies duo of Florielvis Hurtado and Marlene Estenssoro lost to Victoria Saldh and Julie Ball 6-0. Tapia-Cruz and Manuela Jimenez lost to O'Dea and Olivia Archer 6-3 as the Phoenix swept the doubles point. 

In singles play, Olivia Archer took down Manuela Jimenez in straight sets 6-0 6-0 at No. 4. "For me, today was a reminder of how important it is to work on your weaknesses every day," said Jimenez. 

Sophomore Trinity Oliver lost 6-0, 6-0 against Shauna Galvin at No. 5 singles as the Phoenix grabbed a 3-0 lead. Then, on court No. 2, Estenssoro lost to Victoria Saldh 6-1, 6-1 to clinch the win for Elon, who took a 4-0 lead. 

Tapia-Cruz broke through at No. 3 singles, and Hurtado got off to a 4-1 lead against Lizette Reding. However, Redding rallied to win 6-4, 6-2.  

" I felt more comfortable today on the court, even though I could not close on the first set when I was leading," said Hurtado. "I fought until the last point of the match."