SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Four-time defending champion Furman has earned the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Southern Conference Women’s Tennis Championship, which will be contested April 21-23 at the Champions Club in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
 
The 41st-ranked Paladins, who claimed the top seed for the sixth straight tournament, enter the tournament with an 18-6 overall record and went a perfect 7-0 in league play, downing ETSU 5-2 on Saturday in a battle of SoCon unbeatens to clinch the regular-season SoCon title. Furman downed its quarterfinal opponent, No. 8 seed Mercer, 7-0 on April 3. The Paladins and Mercer, which went 6-16 overall and 0-7 in SoCon, have never met in the SoCon tournament. They will square off at 8:30 a.m. Thursday.
 
No. 4 seed Chattanooga went 13-8 overall and 4-3 in SoCon play and will face No. 5 seed Wofford, which enters tournament play 9-9 overall and 3-4 in league matches, on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. The pair met on March 19 of the regular season, with UTC claiming a 5-2 win. The teams have met just once in SoCon tournament play, with the Mocs claiming a 4-0 win in the 2004 quarterfinals.
 
In the bottom half of the bracket, No. 2 seed ETSU faces No. 7 seed UNCG at 10:30 a.m. Thursday. The 74th-ranked Bucs, which went 15-8 overall and 6-1 in league play, topped the Spartans (2-16, 1-6) on April 8, 7-0. ETSU is 2-1 against UNCG in SoCon tournament play, with the Bucs winning in the 2000 and 2005 quarterfinals and the Spartans winning in the 2001 quarterfinals.
 
The final matchup sees No. 3 seed Samford facing No. 6 seed Western Carolina on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. The Bulldogs went 12-8 overall and 5-2 in SoCon play, while the Catamounts enter the tournament having gone 12-9 overall and 2-5 in league action.  Samford claimed a 6-1 win on April 1 in the league’s regular-season matchup. The teams have met just once in the SoCon tournament, with the Bulldogs taking a 4-2 win in the 2018 quarterfinals.
 
Friday’s semifinals are at 10 a.m., with Saturday’s title match set for 1 p.m.
 
Among current members, Furman owns a league-best 20 SoCon tournament titles, while Chattanooga has won five and ETSU and Samford have won one apiece.
 
April 24 will serve as the rain date for the championship.
 
SoCon Women’s Tennis Championship
Chattanooga, Tenn. – Champions Club
Thursday, April 21
Match 1: No. 1 Furman vs. No. 8 Mercer, 8:30 a.m.
Match 2: No. 4 Chattanooga vs. No. 5 Wofford, 8:30 a.m.
Match 3: No. 3 Samford vs. No. 6 Western Carolina, 10:30 a.m.
Match 4: No. 2 ETSU vs. No. 7 UNCG, 10:30 a.m.
 
Friday, April 22
Match 5: Match 1 winner vs. Match 2 winner, 10 a.m.
Match 6: Match 3 winner vs. Match 4 winner, 10 a.m.
 
Saturday, April 23
Match 7: Match 5 winner vs. Match 6 winner, 1 p.m.