GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Furman men’s tennis team remained unbeaten in Southern Conference play, using momentum from a hard-fought doubles point to take a 6-1 decision over the visiting Elon Phoenix on Saturday afternoon at Mickel Tennis Center. Elon (5-13, 4-4) has two league matches remaining as it battles for a spot in the four-team SoCon Tournament. Furman improved to 10-9 on the season and 6-0 in conference action. Elon’s Thomas Darling was one of the bright spots for the Phoenix, handing Tyler Droll his first league singles loss of the year.

Furman grabbed the early advantage after winning the critical doubles point. The Paladins’ Droll and Andrew Mellow were first off the courts with an 8-5 defeat of Darling and Eric Turner at number three. Elon forced number one to be the deciding match after Philip Nemec and Cody Stauffer-MacDowell came away with an 8-5 result over Carl Lundberg and Jordan Walters on court two.

The top doubles match was a competitive bout that pit Elon’s Chase Helpingstine and Alberto Rojas against Sawyer Duncan and Chris Motes. The Phoenix duo held a 7-4 advantage before Duncan and Motes used the momentum from the home crowd to come from behind for a 9-8 (4) win that clinched the point for the Paladins.

The energy from doubles was evident on the singles courts as Mellow quickly took a 6-2, 6-4 win over freshman Carlos Arboleda on court five. Motes squeaked out a 7-6 (4) first set over Helpingstine at number two and then took the match 7-6 (4), 6-1 to put Furman on top 3-0. Duncan turned in the match-clinching win when he battled out a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Nemec on court one.

With the match decided, Darling put Elon on the board with his fourth consecutive win, defeating Droll 7-6 (3), 6-2 result at number six. On court four, Rojas battled back to force a third set after dropping the opener against Walters. Walters pulled off the 6-4, 0-6, 6-2 result. Furman finished the match when Lundberg managed a 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (8) win against Turner.

Elon will look to rebound against the Wofford Terriers in its final road match of the regular season on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.