Clemson, S.C. – The Furman men's tennis team opened a seven-match road trip on Thursday afternoon dropping a non-conference contest to the 69^th-ranked Clemson Tigers, 6-1, at Duckworth Family Tennis Facility.

The Paladins fall to 6-5 on the season while the Tigers improve to 6-4 overall.

Clemson won both completed doubles matches at No. 2 and No. 3, claiming the opening point. In the No. 3 match, the Tigers' Spencer Whitaker and Wissam Abderrahman opened the contest with a 6-2 win over Cole Burnam and Alex Han. The No. 2 combination of Stewart Aronson and Marko Mesarovic clinched the point with their 6-3 victory against Ben Cahill and Emil Westling. Thomas Kennedy and Elijah Poritzky, playing at No. 1, saw their match go unfinished trailing Max Smith and Noa Vukadin, 5-3.

Clemson followed in singles play by winning five of the six matches to claim the 6-1 triumph. The Tigers recorded wins, including four straight to begin singles, at No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 5, and No. 6. Aronson won 6-2, 6-0 versus John Rado at No. 5, and Vukadin topped Kennedy in the No. 3 match, 6-2, 6-3. Playing at No. 1, Ryuhei Azuma defeated Poritzky 6-4, 6-3, while Abderrhman held off Leonardo Dal Boni at No. 2 in three sets, 6-3, 2-6, 6-0. Matt Pitts closed out the match with a 7-6(4), 6-1 victory against Walker Allen at No. 6.

Westling put Furman on the board in his No. 4 match versus Mesarovic, winning in straight sets. The senior from Bjärred, Sweden collected his sixth win of the season, now tied for first on the team, following a 6-4, 6-2 triumph.

The Paladins continue their road trip on Saturday afternoon, traveling to Jacksonville State for a 3 p.m. match.