Greenville, S.C. – The Furman men's tennis team returned home to Mickel Tennis Center for the first time in over a month Saturday and secured a doubleheader sweep of the Chattanooga Mocs and Emmanuel Lions.

Furman stepped back into Southern Conference action by holding off Chattanooga, 4-3, and followed with a 6-1 non-conference victory over Emmanuel.

The Paladins improve to 9-10 overall and 2-1 in the SoCon. With the loss, Chattanooga drops 8-12 on the season and 2-2 in league play. Emmanuel falls to 8-6 for the year.

Furman began the Chattanooga match by clinching the opening point with victories at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles. The Mocs took the No. 2 contest to open the match before the Paladins rallied in the final two matchups. Leonardo Dal Boni and Alex Han, playing together for the first time this season, followed with a 6-3 win at No. 3 over Gabriel Castillo and Kristof Kincses. In the No. 1 match, Thomas Kennedy and Elijah Poritzky went to a tiebreaker versus Peyton Gatti and Jakub Jupa before securing a 7-6(5) victory.

The singles portion of the match went down to a third-set tiebreaker with Walker Allen at No. 6. The freshman from Cumming, Ga., dropped the opening set to Gatti, 3-6, before responding in the second winning 6-3. The third set would go into a tiebreaker with Allen cruising, 7-2, for the 7-6 triumph.   

The Paladins also received singles wins from Dal Boni (No. 2) and Kennedy (No. 3). Dal Boni, playing for the first time since February 26, topped Castillo in three sets, 6-1, 2-6, 6-2, and Kennedy followed by defeating Ryan Mudre in straight sets, 7-6(6), 6-1.

Furman continued its momentum into doubles action against Emmanuel, winning at No. 1 and No. 3 to capture the point. Ben Cahill and Emil Westling got things started in the No. 1 match with a win versus James Girdler and Murilo Gracio, 6-3, and Connor Laymon and John Rado clinched the point with their 6-3 victory at No. 3 over Jose Calderon and Marcos Llorens. In the No. 2 match, Han and Poritzky were leading Henrique Castro and Julio Polesi Lopes, 4-3, when the Paladins picked up the doubles point.

Furman captured five of the six singles matches to finish out the 6-1 win. The Paladins won the first three contests in straight sets beginning with Cahill's 6-2, 6-1 victory at No. 6 versus Lopes. Rado, appearing at No. 2, was victorious against Girdler, 6-4, 6-2, and Han defeated Calderon in the No. 5 match, 6-4, 6-4. Westling rallied back at No. 1 versus Gracio for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory. Following a win by the Lions, Furman rounded out the match with Allen winning his second third-set match of the day, defeating Castro in the No. 3 contest, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3.

The Paladins are back in action April 7-8 when they host The Citadel and East Tennessee State in a pair of Southern Conference matches. Furman faces The Citadel on April 7 at 1 p.m. and East Tennessee State on April 8 at 3 p.m. Fans can follow the action on www.furmanpaladins.com via live stats and live streaming. Updates will be posted on the Furman men's tennis Twitter page (@FurmanMTennis).