CHATTANOOGA, TENN. – The fifth-seeded Furman men's tennis team won four singles matches on Thursday morning to knock off No. 4 seed Chattanooga, 4-3, in the quarterfinals of the SoCon Men's Tennis Championship at the Champions Club.

With the win, Furman (8-14) advances to the semifinals of the conference tournament. The Paladins will square off against top seed East Tennessee State on Friday morning at 10 a.m. with the winner reaching the finals of the SoCon Men's Tennis Championship. Furman has now appeared in the semifinals every year the tournament has been contested since 2014.

Trailing 1-0, the Paladins reeled off three straight wins to start singles at No. 2, No. 3, and No. 5 to take a 3-1 lead. Matt Kandel got things started at No. 2 with his sixth win of the season after defeating Gabriel Castillo in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. Playing at No. 3, John Rado put Furman in front with his eighth win this year, 6-2, 6-4, versus Ryan Mudre. Nico Snyder improved to 7-1 following his 6-3, 7-5 triumph over Matej Laibl at No. 5 to give the Paladins a two-point advantage.

The Mocs answered with back-to-back wins at No. 1 and No. 6 to even the score. In the No. 4 match, Walker Allen, who led Furman in singles victories during the regular season, clinched the match for the second straight contest after topping Cortland Grove in three sets, 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-4. The victory improved Allen to 12-5 on the season.

Chattanooga captured the doubles point to hold the early 1-0 lead over the Paladins with wins at No. 1 and No. 3. Cole Burnam and Connor Laymon picked up a 6-4 win at No. 2 against Mudre and Jaxon Lamb for their fifth victory of the year.

Fans can follow tomorrow's match on www.furmanpaladins.com via live stats. Updates will be posted on the Furman men's tennis Twitter page (@FurmanMTennis).