Macon, Ga. – Junior Elijah Poritzky's victory at the top singles position helped the Furman men's tennis team to a 4-3 Southern Conference victory over the Mercer Bears in its regular season finale, Sunday afternoon at LeRoy Peddy Tennis Center.

The win, Furman's seventh straight over Mercer dating back to the 2018 season, improves the Paladins to 12-11 overall and 5-2 in the SoCon. The Bears drop to 7-12 on the year and 4-3 in conference play.

Furman clinches the No. 3 seed in next week's SoCon Men's Tennis Championship and will face sixth-seeded Wofford (7-11, 2-5 SoCon) in the quarterfinals at 3 p.m. on Thursday, April 18 from the Champions Club in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Poritzky's win, his seventh of the season, capped off singles play with both teams capturing three matches apiece. Mercer won the first two contests before John Rado earned his seventh win of the year at No. 4 when he defeated Samuel Barrow in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4. The Bears answered with a victory in the No. 5 match before Thomas Kennedy and Poritzky closed out the match with back-to-back wins for the Paladins. Kennedy, playing at No. 2, topped Lucas Dini in straight sets for his 10^th victory this season, 7-6(4), 6-2. Poritzky secured the match following a 7-6(4), 6-3 triumph versus Nemanja Stefanovic.

Furman opened the match by clinching the opening point with doubles wins at No. 1 and No. 3. Mercer started with a victory at No. 2 before the No. 1 duo of Kennedy and Poritzky won, 6-4, over Dini and Andrew Branicki for their team leading 10^th victory of the season. Cole Burnam and Connor Laymon collected their second consecutive win to claim the point for the Paladins after defeating Barrow and Samuel MacLeod in a tiebreaker 7-6(4).

The win gives Furman their second straight to conclude the regular season and fifth in the final six matches. Fans can follow Thursday's match against Wofford on www.furmanpaladins.com via live stats. Updates will be posted on the Furman men's tennis Twitter page (@FurmanMTennis).