Furman Men's Tennis Loses Heart-Breaker To Chattanooga In SoCon Finals

Chattanooga, Tenn.-- Chattanooga's Jesse Koti won two final points off Furman's Drew Parker in the third set tiebreaker at No. 3 singles to give the Mocs the 2000 Southern Conference Tournament Championship.

With the match score even at 3-3, Parker rallied from a 5-2 third set deficit to force a third set tiebreaker before falling 7-5 in the tiebreaker.

Furman opened the match in control as the Paladins won all three doubles matches to take the doubles point. Furman freshman John Chesworth downed Jordan Goetzman 6-4, 6-2 early in the match to give Furman a 2-0 overall match lead. UTC then earned victories at No.'s 1, 5, and 6 to take a 3-2 match lead before Furman freshman James Cameron edged Tomi Winnig 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 to even the score at 3-3. Parker's late bid fell short as Chattanooga won their second tournament title in the last three years. Jesse Koti earned Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors thanks to his win.

Furman concludes the season with a 22-13 record, while Chattanooga advances to the NCAA Tournament with a 17-7 overall record.

Chattanooga 4, Furman 3
April 30, 2000
Singles Results
Jason Ontog (UTC) def. Lee Nickell (FU) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
James Cameron (FU) def. Tomi Winnig (UTC) 5-7, 6-2, 6-4
Jessi Koti (UTC) def. Drew Parker (FU) 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(5)
John Chesworth (FU) def. Jordan Goetzman (UTC) 6-4, 6-2
Fabien Bechara (UTC) def. Patrick Gaughan (FU) 7-5, 6-1
Fungai Munjanja (UTC) def. James Moeckel (FU) 6-3, 6-2
Doubles Results
Chesworth-Cameron (FU) def. Goetzman-Koti (UTC) 8-4
Parker-Nickell (FU) def. Ontog-Winnig (UTC) 8-5
Navarro-Hauser (FU) def. Abney-Munjanja (UTC) 8-3