CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – No. 1 seed Chattanooga and No. 3 seed ETSU have advanced to Saturday’s title match of the 2023 Southern Conference Men’s Tennis Championship after picking up semifinal wins Friday. Saturday’s title tilt, which is being contested at the Champions Club, will start at noon, up one hour from the previously announced 1 p.m. start time.
 
The Mocs are in the title match for the first time since 2006 and are seeking their first title since 2000. The Bucs are the four-time defending champions and have reached the championship match in all eight tournaments since returning to the league in 2015.
 
No. 1 Chattanooga 4, No. 5 Furman 2
 
Regular-season champion and top seed Chattanooga earned a 4-2 win over No. 5 seed Furman on Friday to earn its spot in Saturday’s title match.
 
After the Paladins’ Jerry Barton and Alex Han earned a 6-3 win at No. 3 doubles, the Mocs battled back with wins at the top two flights to secure the point. Simon Labbe and Peyton Gatti grabbed a 6-3 win at No. 1 to pull UTC even and Kerim Hyatt and Kristof Kincses outlasted Ben Cahill and Emil Westling in a tiebreaker, winning 7-6 (8-6) to clinch the point.
 
Mocs freshman Cortland Grove made it 2-0 with his 6-2, 6-2 win over Connor Laymon at No. 5, and Ryan Mudre made it 3-0 with his 6-3, 6-3 win over Thomas Kennedy at No. 3.
 
Furman wasn’t finished, however, as SoCon Freshman of the Year Barton earned a 6-3, 6-4 win over Hyatt at No. 1, followed by John Rado rebounding from a first-set shutout for an 0-6, 6-1, 6-1 win over Kincses at No. 6 to draw the Paladins within one at 3-2 in the team race.
 
Gatti clinched it for the Mocs at No. 3, earning a 7-5, 7-5 win over Westling to secure the match and the berth in Saturday’s title match.
 
Singles competition
1. Jerry Barton (FUR) def. Kerim Hyatt (UTC) 6-3, 6-4
2. Gabriel Castillo (UTC) vs. Elijah Poritzky (FUR) 6-3, 5-7, 0-1, unfinished
3. Peyton Gatti (UTC) def. Emil Westling (FUR) 7-5, 7-5
4. Ryan Mudre (UTC) def. Thomas Kennedy (FUR) 6-3, 6-3
5. Cortland Grove (UTC) def. Connor Laymon (FUR) 6-2, 6-2
6. John Rado (FUR) def. Kristof Kincses (UTC) 0-6, 6-1, 6-1
 
Doubles competition
1. Simon Labbe/Peyton Gatti (UTC) def. Thomas Kennedy/Elijah Poritzky (FUR) 6-3
2. Kerim Hyatt/Kristof Kincses (UTC) def. Ben Cahill/Emil Westling (FUR) 7-6 (8-6)
3. Jerry Barton/Alex Han (FUR) def. Gabriel Castillo/Cortland Grove (UTC) 6-3
 
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (5,4,1,6,3)
 
*****
 
No. 3 ETSU 4, No. 2 Mercer 0
 
Third-seeded ETSU downed No. 2 seed Mercer by a 4-0 count Friday to punch its ticket to Saturday’s title clash.
 
ETSU got things started by winning the doubles point, with Peter Kalocsai and Adam Nagoudi cruising to a 6-2 win at No. 1. Courts two and three both went to tiebreakers, with Dimitri Badra and Juan Lombisano earning a 7-6 (7-3) win over Nemanja Stefanovic and Marceau Foulihoux at No. 3, while the No. 2 doubles match between Mercer’s Samuel Barrow and Mariano Argote and ETSU’s Thiago Pernas and Francisco Lamas was abandoned with the score tied at 6.
 
In singles play, Badra and Pernas clinched wins on courts one and two within seconds of each other, with Badra, the three-time defending SoCon Player of the Year, wrapping up his 6-4, 6-0 win over Argote at the top flight just moments before Pernas clinched his 6-2, 6-3 win over Lucas Dini at No. 2.
 
Nagoudi then clinched the match with his 6-4, 6-4 win over Stefanovic at No. 3.
 
Singles competition
1. Dimitri Badra (ETSU) def. Mariano Argote (MER) 6-4, 6-0
2. Thiago Pernas (ETSU) def. Lucas Dini (MER) 6-2, 6-3
3. Adam Nagoudi (ETSU) def. Nemanja Stefanovic (MER) 6-4, 6-4
4. Marceau Foulihoux (MER) vs. Pedro Cressoni (ETSU) 6-7 (4-7), 2-5, unfinished
5. Samuel MacLeod (MER) vs. James Sim (ETSU) 7-6 (10-8), 1-1, unfinished
6. Samuel Barrow (MER) vs. Francisco Lamas (ETSU) 2-6, 6-0, 2-4, unfinished
 
Doubles competition
1. Peter Kalocsai/Adam Nagoudi (ETSU) def. Lucas Dini/Samuel MacLeod (MER) 6-2
2. Samuel Barrow/Mariano Argote (MER) vs. Thiago Pernas/Francisco Lamas (ETSU) 6-6, unfinished
3. Dimitri Badra/Juan Lombisano (ETSU) def. Nemanja Stefanovic/Marceau Foulihoux (MER) 7-6 (7-3)
 
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (1,2,3)
 
*****
 
SoCon Men’s Tennis Championship
Chattanooga, Tenn. – Champions Club
Thursday, April 20
Match 1: No. 1 Chattanooga 5, No. 8 UNCG 1
Match 2: No. 5 Furman 4, No. 4 Samford 1
Match 3: No. 3 ETSU 4, No. 6 The Citadel 0
Match 4: No. 2 Mercer 4, No. 7 Wofford 1
 
Friday, April 21
Match 5: No. 1 Chattanooga 4, No. 5 Furman 2
Match 6: No. 3 ETSU 4, No. 2 Mercer 0
 
Saturday, April 22
Match 7: No. 1 Chattanooga vs. No. 3 ETSU, 12 p.m.