Furman 7, The Citadel 0
GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Furman men’s tennis team remained unbeaten in Southern Conference play after blanking The Citadel, 7-0, Tuesday afternoon at the Mickel Tennis Center in Greenville, S.C.
The Paladins won two out of three doubles matches to claim the opening point. Senior Joel Cook, last week’s SoCon Player of the Week, and sophomore Matt Browned teamed up to beat Elliott Sperr and Dillon Berkabile, 8-7(2) in the top match-up, and the duo of senior Alex Christ and sophomore Ben Horst defeated Jackson Pride and Peter Bleach, 8-1, at flight two. The Bulldogs were victorious at flight three, as Connor Grady and Oliver Dedding notched an 8-6 advantage over freshman Adam Steryous and senior Nate Collins.
Furman swept the singles slate, as Steryous defeated Sperr, 6-2, 6-1 at flight one, and Brown held on for a 6-4, 7-6(4) win over Berkabile at number two. In the flight three match-up, junior Luke Synn posted a 6-3, 6-1 victory versus Bleach, and Cook topped Dedding, 6-2, 6-1 at number four. Freshman Juan Sheppard bested Grady, 6-0, 6-0, at flight five, while senior Sven Ivankovic completed the sweep with a 6-1, 6-0 win against Joe Bove at number six.
Elon 7, Georgia Southern 0
STATESBRO, Ga. – The Elon University men’s tennis team won its eighth straight match on Tuesday, March 25, following a 7-0 sweep at Georgia Southern. With the win, the Phoenix, ranked 44th in the nation by the ITA, improves to 12-3 (5-0 Southern Conference).
Elon was dominant in both singles and doubles play, winning every match in both. The sweep marks the second in a row for the Phoenix and its fourth in five matches against league competition. Elon’s only non-sweep against a conference opponent came in a 6-1 win over Davidson.
The Phoenix jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after taking the doubles point. Brian Kowalski and Robert Lindgren claimed an 8-5 win at No. 2 to give the Phoenix early momentum. Cameron Silverman and Jordan Kaufman clinched the point at No. 1 with an 8-3 win, while Juan Madrid and Stefan Fortmann closed doubles action with an 8-4 win at No. 3.
Silverman, ranked 36th nationally in singles, topped Oliver Webb in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1, to increase Elon’s lead.
Shortly thereafter, Fortmann registered a 6-0, 6-1, decision at No. 2 singles versus GSU’s Kyle Hoffman to put the Phoenix ahead, 3-0.
Kowalski clinched the win at No. 4 with a 6-3, 6-4, decision versus Georgia Southern’s Albert Codina Sala to increase Elon’s lead and keep the momentum going.
Madrid followed it up with a 6-2, 7-6, win at No. 6 versus Rafael Racy, while Kaufman claimed a 7-6, 6-3, win at No. 5 against Nico DeGroof.
Lindgren closed the match with a hard-fought three set win (6-2, 2-6, 11-9) against Marco Osorio to secure the sweep.