Greenville, S.C. – The Furman men's tennis team recorded a doubleheader sweep in non-conference play over the Converse Valkyries and Richmond Spiders, Saturday afternoon at Mickel Tennis Center.

The Paladins improve their record to 6-10 on the season. With the losses, Converse drops to 3-8 overall and Richmond 9-5.

Furman began the day with a 5-2 victory over the Valkyries and followed with a 5-1 triumph over the Spiders.

Match 1 – Converse 2, Furman 5
The Paladins claimed the doubles point after winning two of the three matches at No. 2 and No. 3 to take an early 1-0 lead. Alex Han and Cole Rigsby, playing in the No. 3 match, made quick work of Paul Berrouet and Gregoire Legrand with a 6-0 victory. After Converse won at No. 1, Ben Cahill and Emil Westling clinched the point for Furman with their 6-4 triumph of Marty Letessier and Leopold Morel.

In singles, the Paladins were victorious in four of the six matches to secure the 5-2 victory. Furman captured four straight wins, all in straight sets, at No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4 with the Valkyries closing out with victories in the No. 5 and No. 6 matches. Connor Laymon extended the Paladins' lead to two with his 6-0, 6-1 win over Legrand at No. 2, and Han followed at No. 4 defeating Berrouet 6-4, 6-3. Jerry Barton knocked off Merlin Bellet 6-3, 6-2 in the No. 1 match while John Rado, playing at No. 3, won 7-5, 6-2 against Enzo Marcheschi.

Furman and Converse were meeting for the first time in program history.

Match 2 – Richmond 1, Furman 5
For the second consecutive match, the Paladins picked up the doubles point after winning at No. 1 and No. 3. Han and Ben Cahill got things started for Furman with their 6-0 win at No. 3 versus Alaister Burke and Mark Taranov. In the No. 1 match, Cole Burnam and Thomas Kennedy clinched the doubles point after holding off William Karpinski and Daniel Kliebhan 7-5. Barton and Elijah Poritzky, competing at No. 2, were tied 6-6 when their match against John Walsh and Alex Wernink went unfinished.

The singles portion of the match saw the Paladins compile straight set wins at No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4 to register the 5-1 victory. Richmond won at No. 5 to begin singles play while Han's No. 6 match went unfinished with the score at 2-6, 6-3. With the match tied at 1-1, Furman won four consecutive matches from Barton, Poritzky, Kennedy, and Westling. In the No. 2 match, Poritzky gave the Paladins the lead back with his 6-2, 6-4 victory against Karpinski, and Westling followed with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Walsh at No. 4. Barton won the match for Furman with his 6-1, 6-3 triumph at No. 1 over Kliebhan. Kennedy, in the No. 3 match, closed out the contest with his 6-4, 6-1 win versus Davis Wiley.

Up Next
The Paladins begin Southern Conference play on Sunday afternoon hosting UNC Greensboro at 2 p.m. from Mickel Tennis Center.

Fans can follow the action on www.furmanpaladins.com via live stats. Updates will be posted on the Furman men's tennis Twitter page (@FurmanMTennis).