GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Furman men's tennis team returned home to Mickel Tennis Center for the first time in nearly two weeks Friday and secured a doubleheader sweep of the UNC Greensboro Spartans and North Greenville Trailblazers.
Furman stepped back into Southern Conference action by defeating UNC Greensboro, 7-0, and followed with a 4-0 non-conference victory over North Greenville.
The Paladins improve to 5-5 overall and 2-0 in the SoCon. With the loss, UNC Greensboro drops 4-6 on the season and 0-1 in league play. North Greenville falls to 3-5 for the year.
Furman began the UNC Greensboro match by clinching the opening point with victories at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles.
Matt Kandel and
Elijah Poritzky defeated Tymofiy Khrystyuk and Luke Thomson, 6-4, at No. 1, and
Nicolas Dispas and
Nico Snyder quickly followed at No. 3 with a 7-5 triumph over William Elmers and John Gabelic to win the point.
The Paladins swept their way through singles with six straight set victories. Poritzky got things started at No. 1 with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Khrystyuk and Kandel followed in the No. 2 match with a 6-0, 6-3 win against Gabelic.
Theophile Joly knocked off Thomson in the No. 3 contest, 6-4, 6-1, and Dispas topped Andrew Black at No. 4 by a score of 6-3, 6-4.
Walker Allen was victorious in his No. 5 match versus Devon Moskowitz, 6-4, 6-2, and
Connor Laymon closed things out at No. 6 with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Elmers.
Furman continued its momentum into doubles action against North Greenville, winning at No. 2 and No. 3 to capture the point. Playing together for the first time this season, Allen and
Sam Fancutt blanked Gabriel Pegoraro and Jude Wilkey, 6-0, at No. 3. Dispas and Snyder went to a tiebreaker at No. 2 before holding off Juan Jose Arbelaez and Christo Timini, 7-6(3), to clinch the point.
Laymon and
Cole Burnam were leading their No. 1 match against Will Hernandez and Juho Kantola, 6-5, when the Paladins secured the doubles point.
Furman captured all three completed singles matches at No. 3, No. 4, and No. 6 to register the 4-0 sweep. Snyder picked up his first career singles victory at No. 6 with a 6-0, 6-3 win against Kingsley. Laymon recorded a 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 4 over Arbelaez, and Allen clinched the match for the Paladins after winning 6-0, 6-4 at No. 3 versus Pegoraro.
Furman returns to action March 4-5 when it travels to Florida Gulf Coast and South Florida for a pair of non-conference matches. 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).
