MACON, GA. -- The Furman men's tennis team resumed its fall season this weekend at the Mercer Gridiron Classic hosted by Mercer at the John Drew Smith Tennis Center.
The Paladins were one of 13 teams competing in the three-day tournament along with Abraham Baldwin, Barry, East Tennessee State, Flagler, Georgia College & State, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Mercer, Middle Georgia State, North Georgia, Kennesaw State, and Troy.
Furman sent seven players to the Mercer Gridiron Classic in
Bardo Bucknell,
Nicolas Dispas,
Landon Ecarma,
Alex Han,
Finn Pollard,
Graham Powers, and
Evan Rigsby.
The opening day on Thursday saw the Paladins collect three doubles wins from Bucknell/Rigsby and Dispas/Pollard. The duo of Bucknell and Rigsby, playing in Flight B, earned a pair of wins versus North Georgia's Juan Cruz Blanco and Janos Varga (6-3) and Graham Bourne and Chase Martin of Georgia College & State (6-4). Competing in Flight A, Dispas and Pollard defeated Marc Sala and Eduardo Andreta of East Tennessee State, 7-5.
Furman recorded a total of five victories Friday including four in singles and one in doubles. Dispas picked up a 7-6(9), 6-1 triumph at Flight A2 over Andreta. Pollard secured a 6-4, 6-3 win versus Barry's Cooper Dillon at Flight B1 while Han added a 6-3, 2-6, 10-4 victory at Flight B2 over Noah Patterson of Flagler. Powers collected a win versus Vicente Faria of Middle Georgia State. In doubles, Dispas and Pollard knocked off Sala and Andreta by a 7-5 score in Flight A.
The Paladins closed out play on Saturday with six more wins featuring five in singles and one in doubles. Dispas secured another victory at Flight A2, 6-4, 7-5, against Kennesaw State's Frederik Tandeter. Rigsby, also competing in Flight A2, registered a 6-3, 6-4 win over Andreta. Pollard won in straight sets at Flight B1 versus Martin, 6-0, 6-0, and Han added a 7-5, 6-1 triumph against Duarte Mestre of Middle Georgia State at Flight B2. Bucknell contributed another victory for Furman at Flight B2, defeating Georgia College & State's Jakob Andergassen in straight sets, 7-6(3), 6-1. The doubles tandem of Ecarma and Han topped Aleksandar Andrin and Nishith Rajesh of Georgia State, 6-3, playing at Flight A.
The Paladins travel to Columbia, S.C., October 8-12, for the ITA Carolina Regionals hosted by South Carolina at the Carolina Tennis Center.
Minuteman Press is the Official Sponsor of Furman Athletics press releases.
