Knoxville, Tenn. — The Furman men's tennis team closed out its season-opening road trip Sunday morning with a 4-0 loss to the Penn Quakers in non-conference play inside Tennessee's Goodfriend Tennis Center.
 
Furman drops to 0-2 overall while Penn improves to a 1-1 on the season. 
 
The Quakers jumped out to a 1-0 lead after winning two of three doubles matches at No. 1 and No. 2. The 56th-ranked combination of Kian Vakili and Aaron Sandler defeated Ben Cahill and Emil Westling 7-5 at No. 2. The Paladins responded at No. 3 when Walker Allen and Alex Han topped Parashar Bharadwaj and Matthew Rutter 6-4. The No. 1 match between Thomas Kennedy and Elijah Poritzky of Furman and Penn's Zachery Lim and Manfredi Graziani went into a tiebreaker with the Quakers earning the 7-6(7) triumph.
 
Penn followed with singles victories at No. 2, No. 5, and No. 6 in straight sets to claim the 4-0 win. Sandler won 6-4, 6-1 over Kennedy at No. 2, and Bharadwaj added a 6-2, 6-3 victory at No. 5 versus John Rado. In the No. 6 match, Rutter defeated Allen 6-4, 6-1.
 
Three different singles matches went unfinished when the contest was decided. 

Poritzky was tied with Graziani in the No. 1 match 6-4, 4-6, while Leonardo Dal Boni, playing at No. 3, led Vakili 6-2, 3-6, 2-1. Westling trailed Baylor Sai at No. 4 in the third set 6-3, 0-6, 0-4.

The Paladins play their first home matches of the season next weekend, January 19-20, hosting Queens (N.C.) and James Madison at Mickel Tennis Center. Furman entertains Queens (N.C.) on January 19 at 3 p.m. before welcoming James Madison to Greenville on January 20 for a 1 p.m. matchup.