Elon, N.C. – The Furman doubles combination of Jerry Barton and Elijah Poritzky captured a doubles championship to lead the Paladin men's tennis team this weekend at the Elon Fall Invitational, hosted by Elon at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.

Furman was one of 14 teams competing at the three-day event along with Elon, Charlotte, Hampton, James Madison, Liberty, Longwood, Norfolk State, North Carolina A&T, N.C. Central, Queens (N.C.), Radford, UNC Asheville and UNC Greensboro.

The tournament featured five singles and five doubles brackets.

Barton, a freshman, and Poritzky, a sophomore, teamed up to compete in the Maroon doubles bracket and began tournament play with a 6-4 win over Nicholas Campbell and Veljko Krstic of Elon. The duo followed with a 7-5 triumph over North Carolina A&T's Esteban Lopez and Alex Sanz to advance to the championship match. Barton and Poritzky clinched the title after defeating Jon Brann Reid and Rafa Serra of UNC Asheville 6-2.

The Paladins added another win in doubles competition when junior Emil Westling and freshman Thomas Kennedy knocked off UNC Asheville's Freddy Murray and Harry Thursfield 6-4 in the Maroon bracket.

In singles competition, Barton and Kennedy highlighted play for Furman with Barton participating in the Maroon bracket and Kennedy in the Gold. Barton advanced to the semifinals of the main draw while Kennedy made it to finals of the consolation draw. Barton compiled a pair of three-set wins over Vasil Ivanov of North Carolina A&T 2-6, 7-6(3), 6-1 and then added a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory against Campbell. Despite dropping his opening match, Kennedy recorded straight-set wins versus Sanz (6-2, 6-4) and Nicholas Condos of Elon (6-2, 6-2).

Westling contributed a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 win over Laurenz Blickwede of Queens (N.C.) in the consolation draw of the Maroon bracket.

The Paladins resume their fall schedule October 1-10 at the ITA All-Americans in Tulsa, Okla.