Chattanooga, Tenn. – The fifth-seeded Furman men's tennis team rolled past No. 4 seed Samford, 4-1, Thursday morning in the quarterfinals of the SoCon Men's Tennis Championship at the Champions Club.

With the win, Furman (11-13) advances to the semifinals of the conference tournament. The Paladins will square off against top seed Chattanooga on Friday morning at 10 a.m. with the winner reaching the finals of the SoCon Men's Tennis Championship. Furman has now appeared in the semifinals every year the tournament has been contested since 2014.

The Paladins won two of the three doubles matches to claim the point and take a 1-0 lead over the Bulldogs (10-11). Thomas Kennedy and Elijah Poritzky began things with a 6-0 triumph in the No. 1 match over Mohammed Ali Bellalouna and Sandeep Mohandoss. After Samford picked up a win at No. 2, the duo of Jerry Barton and Alex Han outlasted Yerrassyl Murat and Harrison Williams at the No. 3 spot 7-6 (7-5).

Furman followed by winning three of the four completed singles contests, including two in straight sets. Barton, the SoCon Freshman of the Year, beat Bellalouna 6-3, 6-0, and Emil Westling, playing at No. 3, topped J.B. Pickard 6-4, 6-1. Kennedy, a SoCon All-Freshman Team performer this season, secured the match victory for the Paladins with his 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 triumph over Darcy Nicolls. The Bulldogs would earn one win from the No. 2 match.

The final two matches went unfinished. Connor Laymon, who was competing at No. 5, won his first set against Santiago Arredondo 6-4, but dropped the second 6-4. John Rado led Martin Schwartzman in the No. 6 match 7-5, 4-1.

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