Greensboro, N.C. – The Furman men's tennis team registered its first Southern Conference victory of the season following a 6-1 win over the UNC Greensboro Spartans on Friday at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center.

Furman evens its record at 7-7 overall and improves to 1-0 in the SoCon. With the loss, UNC Greensboro drops to 3-5 on the season and 0-2 in conference play.

The Paladins captured wins in two out of three doubles matches at No. 1 and No. 3 to claim the opening point. Playing at No. 1, Thomas Kennedy and Elijah Poritzky edged Christopher Johns and Tymofiy Khrystyuk, 7-5, for their team leading seventh win of the season. The No. 3 combination of Connor Laymon and Emil Westling, playing together for the first time this season, registered a 6-3 triumph versus Hampus Johansson and Luke Thomson. Kennedy and Poritzky clinched the doubles point for Furman.

The Paladins followed in singles play by winning five of the six matches to secure the 6-1 victory. Furman received wins from Poritzky (No. 1), Kennedy (No. 2), Westling (No. 3), John Rado (No. 4), and Walker Allen (No. 6).

Poritzky, Rado, and Allen both held off their opponents for three-set victories. Competing at the No. 1 spot, Poritzky defeated Khrystyuk, 7-6(0), 4-6, 6-3 to record his third consecutive win at the top position. Rado rallied to top John Gabelic in the No. 4 match, 2-6, 6-3, 6-1, to win his fourth match of the year. Allen also came back from one-set down to earn a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory, his fifth of the season, over Devon Moskowitz.

Kennedy and Westling each tallied straight set triumphs, respectively, in the No. 2 and No. 3 contests. Kennedy earned a 6-4, 6-4 win against David Flisberg, while Westling defeated Thomson, 6-3, 6-2. The victories were the team best seventh of the season for Westling and fifth for Kennedy.

Rado recorded the match victory for the Paladins with his win at No. 4.

Furman is off until March 16-17 when it travels to Birmingham, Ala. to face UAB before stepping back into league play at Samford.