New Haven, Conn. – Furman men’s tennis coach Paul Scarpa surpassed a milestone on Friday afternoon, becoming the sport’s winningest coach in NCAA Division I history with his 820th victory. The Paladins defeated Yale, 6-1, at the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center to give the coach of 45 years the all-time mark.
“This record is a great thing for our team and all the players who have been part of this program,” said Scapa. “I am happy because it makes all those who have gone to Furman, tennis players or not, proud to be a part of history. Most of all, I’m glad we won. This was not an easy match but we played very hard. Yale is a great place to play with a tremendous tennis heritage.”
Scarpa surpassed former University of Hawaii coach Jim Schwitters to take over the record. His 820 victories include 254 in the Southern Conference, where the Paladins have had 40 consecutive winning seasons.
The Paladins improved to 7-6 on the year with their win over the Bulldogs (5-3). Furman won all three doubles matches to take the team doubles point. At number one doubles, Andy Juc and Chris Motes rebounded from a
7-2 deficit to win the match, 9-7, against Michael Caldwell and Calvin Bennett. Bo Ladyman and Jordan Walters improved to 7-3 on the season with an 8-5 win over Erik Blumenkranz and Jeff Dawson at number two. At the third position, Andrei Chvetsov and Chris Rhyne were victorious over Josh Lederman and Joel Samaha, 8-4.
In singles action, freshman Philipp Fuelkell increased the Paladin advantage with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Connor Dawson at number three.
Sophomore Sawyer Duncan put Furman up 3-0 with his straight set victory against Blumenkranz at number six. Ladyman clinched the match, securing the Scarpa record, with his 7-6, 6-4 win against Caldwell at number two.
Juc and Daniel Knause also picked up singles victories.
Furman will be back in action tomorrow at Princeton. The match is slated to begin at noon.
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