Furman 6, Wofford 1

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- The Furman men's tennis team remained unbeaten in Southern Conference play after defeating Wofford, 6-1, Tuesday afternoon in Spartanburg, S.C.  The Paladins' win today sets up a battle between two unbeaten teams vying for the regular season title when Furman plays host to the College of Charleston on Thursday at 3 p.m. 

The Paladins swept the doubles matches against the Terriers and won five out of six singles matches for the victory.  In doubles action, junior Sawyer Duncan teamed with senior Chris Motes for an 8-7(0) victory over Tinus Van Wyk and Alan Donald in the number one match.  At number two, freshmen Andrew Mellow and Carl Lundberg beat Paul Bartholomy and Stuart Robertson 8-5.  Senior Jordan Walters and junior Andrei Chvetsov defeated Drew Superstein and Tom Wood, 8-1, at number three doubles.

In the number one singles match, Duncan came from behind to defeat Van Wyk 3-6, 6-4, 10-8.  Motes defeated Robertson 6-0, 6-0 at number two singles, and Lundberg beat Donald 6-2, 6-1 in the third singles match.  Walters posted a 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 come from behind win over Bartholomy at number four singles, and Mellow beat Michael Schecter 6-3, 6-4 at number five singles.  

Wofford's lone point came off a 6-4, 6-2 victory by Tom Wood over senior Chris Rhyne at number six singles.

Furman (11-9, 7-0 SoCon) will face College of Charleston Thursday at 3:00 p.m. at the Mickel Tennis Center in Greenville, S.C.

Elon 6, Appalachian State 1

ELON, N.C. - Playing one of the most challenging non-conference schedules in the league paid off on Tuesday afternoon as the Elon men's tennis team defeated the visiting Appalachian State Mountaineers, 6-1, in the Southern Conference regular-season finale to secure a spot in the upcoming league tournament. After dropping three consecutive 4-3 SoCon matches, the gritty Elon Phoenix (7-13, 6-4) won three of its last four conference matches to clinch a spot in the reduced four-team tournament field. Appalachian State fell to 11-9 (3-6) on the season.   
 
The doubles point, which has proved critical for the Phoenix in SoCon matches this year, was extremely competitive and a momentum changer. Elon's Thomas Darling and Eric Turner got off the courts first, improving to 5-3 on the season with an 8-5 defeat of Britton Webb and Andrew McKinnon at number three. On court one, the match between Elon's Chase Helpingstine and Alberto Rojas and the Mountaineers' Trent Constance and Peter Jacobs was knotted at five before the ASU tandem broke to take a 6-5 advantage. Elon broke back to tie the score, but the Mountaineers won two straight games to take the match, 8-6.
 
Elon felt good about its chances with the point hinging on a tight match on court two. Elon's number two duo of Philip Nemec and Cody Stauffer-MacDowell were riding an 11 match winning streak and had yet to be defeated by a SoCon opponent. Down 8-7 to Alain Humblet and Philip Kloc, the Elon duo successfully served from a 40-30 deficit to force the match into a tiebreak. Elon got down 2-1, but rattled off five straight points to go up 6-2 before taking the set on the second match point, 9-8 (3). The Phoenix has won the doubles point in all of its victories this year.
 
Elon got bookend wins to open singles play. Darling got off court six in one hour and 11 minutes, taking a 6-0, 6-3 win over Ezekiel Sansing. Darling needed just 21 minutes to put Sansing down a set. On court one, Nemec posted a 6-2, 6-4 result over Jacobs to give the Phoenix a 3-0 advantage.
 
Appalachian State got its lone point of the match when Constance earned a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Turner at number three. Elon came up with big 7-6 victories in the first set of the remaining three matches. Rojas used the momentum to battle out the match-clinching victory for the Phoenix, taking a 7-6 (5), 6-2 decision over Kloc on court four.
 
At number five, Stauffer-MacDowell ended a four-match losing skid with a hard-fought 7-6 (4), 6-4 defeat of McKinnon. Just two days after winning a singles match in less than an hour, Helpingstine was the final Phoenix on the court. ASU's Humblet fought back from a 5-2 deficit in set one to force a tiebreaker, but Helpingstine managed to take the lead, 7-6 (7). Humblet rebounded with a 6-2 second set win, meaning the match would be determined by a super tiebreaker. After each gave up several match points, Helpingstine managed to get his fifth SoCon win of the year with a 7-6 (7), 2-6, 12-10 result.
 
The Phoenix will play its final regular-season match on Saturday, April 17 when it hosts non-conference foe East Carolina at 1:00 p.m.

Winthrop 5, Davidson 2

ROCK HILL, S.C. - Playing its final non-conference opponent of the season, the Davidson men¹s tennis team fell on the road to the Winthrop Eagles, 5-2, on Tuesday afternoon at the Memorial Courts.

Davidson saw its record fall to an even 10-10 on the year, while Winthrop improved to 9-11.

Joe Schafer and Eric Noble picked up their team-leading 12th doubles win at No. 1 after scoring an 8-3 victory over Guy Kubi and Nadav Ruppin. But, the Eagles took home wins at the No. 2 and 3 positions to open up a 1-0 lead.

The senior duo of Noble and Sam Burns each netted singles wins for Davidson¹s two points in the match as Winthrop took wins at No. 1and 3-5 for the victory.

Noble earned a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Liran Levy at the No. 2 position. He scored his seventh singles win of the year and 37th of his career.

Burns also took home a straight set match win with a 7-5, 6-2 triumph over Preetham Moras at No. 6 for his 13th singles win of the season. He won his 35th career singles match.

Davidson looks to close out the season on a winning note when it travels to Boone, N.C. to face Appalachian State on Sunday, Apr. 18, at 1 p.m. The Wildcats are seeking to close out Southern Conference play with a .500 mark as they sit at 4-5 on the season.