Greenville, S.C. – The Furman men's tennis team won its third consecutive match on Sunday afternoon opening Southern Conference play with a 6-1 victory over the UNC Greensboro Spartans at Mickel Tennis Center.
Furman improves to 7-10 overall and 1-0 in the conference. With the loss, UNCG drops to 4-12 on the season and 0-4 in league play.
For the third straight match, the Paladins captured the doubles point after winning two out of three matches at No. 2 and No. 3.
Jerry Barton and
Elijah Poritzky, playing at No. 2, quickly defeated Christopher Johns and Tymofiy Khrystyuk 6-1 before the Spartans earned the win at No. 1. In the No. 3 match,
Ben Cahill and
Alex Han secured the point for Furman following a 6-2 triumph over David Flisberg and John Gabelic.
In singles, the Paladins picked up wins at No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, and No. 6 to register the 6-1 win.
Poritzky and
John Rado both won in straight sets to extend Furman's lead to 3-0. At No. 2, Poritzky topped Flisberg 6-1, 6-1, and Rado, playing at the No. 6 position, won 6-0, 6-1 versus Harrison Gwynn.
Following a UNCG win at No. 5, the Paladins secured the match victory as Barton,
Thomas Kennedy, and
Emil Westling were all victorious in three sets. Kennedy won the match for Furman after holding off Khrystyuk 6-4, 4-6, 6-1. In the No. 1 match, Barton rallied back to top Gabelic 6-7 (4-7), 6-1, 6-2. Westling wrapped up the match at No. 4 with his 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) triumph against Johns.
The Paladins have now won 29 of its 34 matches all-time against UNC Greensboro including the last 13 meetings dating back to 2014.
Furman continues its SoCon schedule next Monday, March 27 at 3 p.m. versus Samford at 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).
