Elon and Furman Advance to Men's Final

No. 2 Furman 4, No. 3 UNCG 3

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Ben Horst’s three-set win at No. 6 singles lifted second-seeded Furman past No. 3 seed UNCG, 4-3, Friday in the 2014 Southern Conference Tennis Tournament at the Champions Club.  With the win, Furman advances to face top-seeded Elon in Saturday’s championship match.

With the match tied 3-3 and trailing 5-3 in the third set, Horst rallied to claim a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 decision for the deciding point.

UNCG won the doubles point to stake an early 1-0 lead in the match as the Spartans picked up wins at No. 1 and No. 3 to claim the point. 

The Spartans (14-7) pushed their lead to 2-0 when Randy Phillips downed Luke Synn, 6-1, 6-3 at No. 3 singles.  Furman answered moments later as Joel Cook claimed a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Daniel Mack at No. 4.

The Paladins (16-8) evened the match (2-2) when Juan Sheppard topped Gaston Murray at No. 5 (7-6 [7-5], 6-4). 

The match at No. 1 singles went three sets as Furman’s Adam Steryous rallied to beat Ahmet Sarioglu 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to push the Paladins ahead in the match, 3-2.  UNCG promptly knotted the match at three when James Douglas posted at three-set win (2-6, 7-5, 6-2) over Matt Browne at No. 2.  From there the match rested on the outcome at No. 6 singles, where Horst sent Furman through to tomorrow’s final.

No. 1 Elon 4, No. 4 Chattanooga 0

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Top-seeded Elon used wins at the top of the order in singles play to claim a 4-0 victory over Appalachian State in a semifinal matchup of the 2014 Southern Conference Men’s Tennis Tournament at the Champions Club.

With the win, the Phoenix (18-4) advance to Saturday’s championship match while Appalachian State finishes the season 10-13.

Cameron Silverman and Jordan Kaufman knocked off Appalachian State’s Sebastien King and Zach Bost, 8-4, at No. 1 doubles before Brian Kowalski and Robert Lindgren recorded an 8-2 decision over Oliver Casey and Daniel Hoang at No. 2 to give the Phoenix the doubles point.

Stefan Fortmann gave Elon a 2-0 lead with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Casey at No. 2 singles.  Silverman, the 2014 Player of the Year, claimed a 6-4, 6-1, victory over King at No. 1 to give the Phoenix a 3-0 lead in the match.

Kaufman’s 6-4, 6-4, win over Jack Maddocks at No. 5 clinched the match for Elon.

Furman is looking for its first tournament crown since 2009, while Elon last won the title in 2007.  First serve is set for 10:00 a.m.