ELMIRA, N.Y. -- After opening the year with three consecutive losses, the Elmira College men's tennis team seems to have found its rhythm with back-to-back non-league wins this month over Oswego State and Pennsylvania College of Technology. Elmira puts its two-match win streak on the line this Thursday, March 23, when the Soaring Eagles travel to face the favorites to win the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC), Marywood University. The opening serve is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at the Birchwood Tennis Club in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Elmira produced its biggest win of the season last time out against the Pennsylvania College of Technology, as the Soaring Eagles rolled over the Wildcats by a 9-0 final score. EC swept all three doubles matches by identical scores, 8-0, and marched away victorious in each of the six singles matches in straight sets. In total, Elmira won 96-of-101 games played. Elmira's Theo Tran '20 and Patrick Tracey '18 did not drop a single game in either of their matches, as the duo teamed up for an 8-0 triumph at the top doubles spot, before earning 6-0, 6-0 wins at the first and third positions, respectively.
 
RECORD BOOK WATCH: Yaniv Kogan '18 and Tracey sit in a two-way tie for sixth-place in EC history for career singles wins (20). The two classmates became the sixth and seventh players in program history to reach the 20-win mark, and with just one more win, the pair will move into a three-way tie with former EC standout Sam Pine '14 for the fifth spot.
 
SCOUTING MARYWOOD: The Pacers are 0-2 during the 2016-17 campaign, after suffering a pair of 9-0 losses in the fall season to the University of Scranton and Drew University. Despite those setbacks, Marywood was voted as the favorites to win the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) by the league's coaches, and open the spring portion of its schedule against the Soaring Eagles. Ahmed AlOreif returns for his junior season after going 5-2 in dual matches in 2015-16, which included a 3-0 mark in league contests. He is 2-2 this season with both wins coming in the King's College (Pa.) Invitational, an event in which the Saudi Arabia native placed second at this past September. Marywood's other top returner is Bryon Scholl, who is looking to build off of a 6-6 showing during his junior campaign in 2015-16. Scholl was a mainstay in the middle part of Marywood's lineup throughout the year and went 5-2 in league matches.  
 
ALL-TIME SERIES: Elmira and Marywood will meet for just the second time this Thursday. The previous matchup between the two teams dates back to the 2012-13 season, when the Pacers downed the Soaring Eagles by a 9-0 final score in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
 
LOOKING AHEAD: Elmira is back in action next Monday, March 27, when the Soaring Eagles host the Giants of Keystone College. The non-league match is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. at Elmira's Murray Athletic Center in Pine Valley, New York.