April 9, 1998
Greenville, S.C. -- The Furman menšs tennis team claimed the 1998 Southern Conference regular season title by defeating East Tennessee State 4-3 Thursday at the Minor Mickel Tennis Center on Furmanšs campus.
With the Paladins in need of only one match with two remaining on the courts, senior co-captain Adam Abney rallied from a third set deficit to clinch the victory and the conference championship with a 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Armen Safarin at No. 2 singles.
Earlier in the match, senior co-captain Sam Schroerlucke and sophomore Drew Parker won straight set singles matches. Schroerlucke downed Damien Ciaccia 6-0, 7-6 while Parker defeated Regis Grouard 6-1, 6-4. The Paladins also claimed the doubles point by sweeping all three matches.
East Tennessee State kept the match tight with singles victories from Gustavo Gomez, Juan Yannuzzi, and Matt Keeter.
Furman improves to 14-10 overall, 8-0 in the Southern Conference. This marks the 11th Southern Conference title for the Paladins, but the first since 1994. Furman claimed the Southern Conference tournament title in 1997 and will host the 1998 Southern Conference Tournament next weekend, April 7-9.
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