March 21, 2007

Final Stats

Greenville, S.C. - The Furman men's tennis team outlasted the Charlotte 49ers, 4-2, in a match that lasted over five hours at Mickel Tennis Center on Wednesday afternoon. After dropping the doubles point in a tiebreaker, Furman (8-9) battled back to win four singles matches and earn the win. The loss snapped Charlotte's (13-7) four-match winning streak.

"This was another match where everyone played as hard as they possibly could," said Furman head coach Paul Scarpa. "It was an absolute fight down to the wire, but we didn't let up and kept the pressure on. Coach Alan (Ferguson) did a great job coaching Daniel (Knause) through a tough singles match."

An injury has disrupted Furman's doubles lineup as of late, but the Paladins still had a chance to earn the point. Jordan Walters and Chris Gilli put together an 8-4 win over Aljoscha Jelinek and Dorian Host at number three. After Furman dropped a close 8-6 match at number one, Charlotte's Roy Sichel and Darren Mansell battled out a 9-8 (8-6) victory over Andy Juc and Scott Kahler to take the advantage into singles play.

The 49ers took a 2-0 lead after a singles win at flight two, but Juc got the Paladins back in the mix with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Sichel at number one. Michal Kociecki knocked off Charlotte's Brad Clinard, 7-5, 6-2 to even the score. Furman's Daniel Knause and Walters pulled out three-set victories at flight three and five, respectively, to give the Paladins the win. The final singles match went unfinished due to the length of the match.

Furman will return to Southern Conference action this weekend when it hosts Georgia Southern on Saturday, March 24 at 1:30 p.m.