Furman, Elon Advance to Men's Final

#2 Elon 4, #6 College of Charleston 2

FINAL STATS

ELON, NC ? Second-seeded Elon held off sixth-seeded College of Charleston 4-2 in the semifinals of the 2009 Southern Conference Tennis Championship Saturday afternoon. The Phoenix advance to the final to take on top-seeded Furman at 2:00 p.m. Sunday afternoon.

Elon picked up the doubles points with wins at the second and third positions, both in close matches. The team of Chase Helpingstine and Oscar Podlewski topped Mickael Trintignac and Mickael Boyer 8-5 for the first win of the day at the #2 spot. At the #3 position, Alberto Rojas and Carlin Murray battled Omer Abramovich and Joe Nicolazzi for the clinching match, coming out on top 8-6 to give the Phoenix a 1-0 lead in the overall match.

Cody Stauffer McDowell gave the Phoenix a 2-0 lead with a 6-2, 6-2 win at #6 singles over Nicolazzi. Damon Gooch added a win for Elon with a 6-1, 6-1 decision over Abramovich at the #1 position.

The singles action heated up as three of the four remaining matches went to a third set. Charleston’s Tom Delme put the Cougars on the board with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Helpingstine at #4. Trintignac cut the lead to one with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 win over Philip Nemec at #3 singles. Rojas pulled out a three-set victory to clinch the match for Elon, winning 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 over Boyer at the fifth position. The final match of the evening, which was unfinished, saw a three-set battle between Podlewski and Lukas Koncilia at #2 singles.

#1 Furman 4, # 4 UNC Greensboro 0

ELON, N.C. ? The Furman men’s tennis team claimed a 4-0 victory over fourth-seeded UNC Greensboro in one semifinal of the 2009 Southern Conference Men’s Tennis Championships Saturday afternoon at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.  The Paladins will vie for the tournament championship Sunday at 2:00 p.m.

Furman picked up the doubles point with wins at the top two positions.  Andy Juc and Bo Ladyman downed Orcun Seyrek and Andrey Bubnov, 8-1 at No. 1 doubles.  At No. 2 doubles Chris Rhyne and Chris Motes topped William John and Taylor Befus, 8-4 to give Furman a 1-0 lead in the match.

Sawyer Duncan cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 win over Kyle Eddins at No. 6 singles before Daniel Knause gave Furman a 3-0 lead in the match with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Jacob Wright at No. 3 singles.  In a battle of two of the top singles players in the conference, Furman’s Andy Juc downed UNCG’s Orcun Seyrek at No. 1 singles, 6-1, 6-1 to clinch the match victory for the Paladins.

Furman is looking for its second consecutive tournament championship, after taking the crown last season.  The Paladins claimed the regular season championship this season with a 10-0 record in league play.