Elon Men¹s Tennis Drops 4-3 Heartbreaker at Furman

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The final four singles matches between the Phoenix and Paladins all needed three sets to determine a winner with Furman’s Tyler Droll pulling off a 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-3 win over Elon’s Carlos Arboleda at number six to secure the 4-3 win for the host team in Southern Conference men’s tennis action on Saturday.

The weather made for an interesting match, beginning with rain that interrupted outdoor play early in the match and then a hailstorm that ultimately moved the conclusion of the final three of the singles matches indoors.

“This was a good college tennis match against a strong Furman team,” said Elon head coach Michael Leonard. “This is the hardest our team has fought, top to bottom, all year, especially not having Eric (Turner) out there at all. We played hard and I’m proud of how we competed.”

The match was tied at two-all with the matches on courts two, five and six all in the third set when nasty weather rolled through and moved the matches to Furman’s indoor courts. At number five, Elon (7-11, 4-3) rookie Juan Madrid battled back for the 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win against Robbie Aru to give the Phoenix a slim 3-2 advantage.

At number two, Phoenix freshman Stefan Fortmann and Alex Christ went toe-to-toe and headed into a tiebreaker with the deciding set at 6-6. Christ tied the score for the Paladins, pulling out the 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5) decision against one of Elon’s top rookies.

Everything hinged on the result on court six, Droll gaining the upper hand midway through the final set and pulling out the three-setter against Arboleda to give Furman (7-12, 4-2) its fourth conference victory.

Elon’s top singles player, Cameron Silverman, remained unbeaten in league action after a 7-5, 6-2 win against Andrew Mellow. Freshman Jordan Kaufman also continued his strong play against SoCon foes, moving to 6-1 on the year after a 6-4, 6-4 decision over Joel Cook at number three. Kaufman moved to the number three spot with senior Eric Turner sidelined due to a nagging injury.

Furman gained what proved to be a very critical doubles point to begin the match with wins at number two and three. Silverman and Fortmann paired for the first time all season, rolling to an 8-2 win against Christ and Cook on court one for Elon’s lone doubles victory.

Elon will look to get back on the winning track when it visits Wofford tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m.