Mercer University
Fla. Gulf Coast
Tennis Drops A Pair Of Matches At FGCU To Open A-Sun Play
3/15/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
FORT. MYERS, Fla.—The Mercer tennis teams dropped a pair of matches to open Atlantic Sun play on Thursday afternoon at Florida Gulf Coast. The Mercer women, who played the early match, dropped a 7-0 decision to the Eagles, while the Mercer men lost in heartbreaking fashion in their A-Sun lid-lifter, falling 4-3 to FGCU in Thursday's late afternoon clash at the FGCU Tennis Complex.
After a nine-day lay-off, the Mercer women finally returned to the court, but struggled to find their cadence all afternoon in the 7-0 setback to FGCU.
With the loss, the Bears now drop to 2-5 overall and 0-1 in league play, while Florida Gulf Coast puts an end to a two-game losing skid and improves to 5-6 overall and 2-0 in A-Sun play.
The Eagles gained the advantage from the outset, as Bettina Botha and Sarah Means posted an 8-0 win over the Bears Sarah Hanna and Katherine Cooper at the No. 3 doubles position. FGCU followed that victory by ensuring the doubles point with Gyana Mandic and Jen Evans defeated Melanie Schumilas and Amanda Bertani 8-1 at the No. 2 doubles flight.
The Bears would get some consolation at the No. 1 doubles position, however, as Lucie Payrat and Jennifer Lada held of FGCU's Morgan Bechtel and Marina Diaz, 8-6.
In singles play, the Eagles would essentially clinch the match with victories at the No. 3, 6, 4 and positions to render the result academic. FGCU's Diaz posted a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Mercer's Schumilas at the No. 3, while Gyanna Mandic posted a 6-0, 6-1 result over the Bears' Cooper at the No. 6 post. The Eagles would close out the match with a win at the No. 4 flight, as Bechtel posted a 6-1, 6-1 win over Mercer's Bertani at the No. 4 position.
The Mercer men's tennis team came up just short in their A-Sun opener, dropping a 4-3 decision to the Florida Gulf Coast in the second match of the day, as the Eagles used a late run, including a decisive 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 win by Moore at the No. 2 position for the Eagles, which yielded the fourth and match-clinching point for the Eagles.
With the win, FGCU improved their overall season ledger to 5-4 and remained unbeaten at 2-0 in A-Sun play. Mercer fell to 3-6 overall and 0-1 in A-Sun play.
It appeared it would be a strong start to the A-Sun season for the Bears, as Mercer started off in positive fashion by gaining the doubles point. Wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles positions allowed the Bears to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
At the No. 1 post, David Barton and Victor Dias defeated FGCU's Bao and Jackson Moore, 8-3, while Mercer's Vincent DeLise and Joao Pagan defeated FGCU's Dean Tsamas and Collin Brown, 8-5, at the No.3 doubles position.
In singles play, the Bears would hold a 2-1 match advantage after Barton defeated the FGCU's Matthew Rock, 6-3, 6-1 at the No. 4 position. Barton's triumph came on the heels of a Pagan's 1-6, 1-6 setback to the Eagles' Tsamas at the No. 3 post, which briefly deadlocked the match.
FGCU would bring the match all square once again, as Lance Lvovsky posted a 6-4, 6-3 win over DeLise at the No. 5 spot, tying the match, 2-2. The Eagles also picked up a 7-5, 7-5 win at the No. 6 position, as Michael Bleiler was able to hold off the Bears' Dias in another hard-fought singles match. That win gave the Eagles their first advantage all afternoon, at 3-2.
Though it would be of little consolation, Tafelski would produce a dramatic win over FGCU's Bao at the No. 1 singles position to close out the match. With the match already decided with FGCU's win at the No. 2 flight, Tafelski posted a rare third-set super tiebreaker win in the final match to finish. Tafelski posted a 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 1-0 (12-10), and had his back against the wall a couple of times, as Bao had two match points. However, Tafelski was able to stay alive and ultimately on both occasions to get a wild victory in a thrilling No. 1 singles match.
The Bears will have little time to dwell on the losses from Thursday, as both teams will return to the hard surface for a pair of A-Sun tilts on Saturday at Stetson. The men will take to the court against Stetson at 10 a.m., while first serve for the Mercer women is set for approximately 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
Women's Tennis Agate
FGCU 7, MERCER 0
Singles competition
1. Sarah Means (FGCU) def. Lucie Payrat (MER) 6-3, 6-0
2. Jen Evans (FGCU) def. Jennifer Lada (MER) 6-3, 6-4
3. Marina Diez (FGCU) def. Melanie Schumilas (MER) 6-1, 6-0
4. Morgan Bechtel (FGCU) def. Amanda Bertani (MER) 6-1, 6-1
5. Bettina Botha (FGCU) def. Sarah Hanna (MER) 6-0, 7-5
6. Gyanna Mandic (FGCU) def. Katherine Cooper (MER) 6-0, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. Jennifer Lada/Lucie Payrat (MER) def. Morgan Bechtel/Marina Diez (FGCU) 8-6
2. Gyanna Mandic/Jen Evans (FGCU) def. Melanie Schumilas/Amanda Bertani (MER) 8-1
3. Bettina Botha/Sarah Means (FGCU) def. Sarah Hanna/Katerine Cooper (MER) 8-0
Match Notes:
Mercer 2-5 (0-1 A-Sun)
Florida Gulf Coast University 5-6 (2-0 A-Sun)
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (3,6,4,1,2,5)
Men's Tennis Agate
FGCU 4, MERCER 3
Singles competition
1. Pierre Tafelski (MER) def. Tianyu Bao (FGCU) 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 1-0 (12-10)
2. Jackson Moore (FGCU) def. Peter Tauchner (MER) 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
3. Dean Tsamas (FGCU) def. Joao Pagan (MER) 6-1, 6-1
4. David Barton (MER) def. Matthew Rock (FGCU) 6-3, 6-1
5. Lance Lvovsky (FGCU) def. Vincent DeLise (MER) 6-4, 6-3
6. Michael Beiler (FGCU) def. Victor Dias (MER) 7-5, 7-5
Doubles competition
1. David Barton/Victor Dias (MER) def. Tianyu Bao/Jackson Moore (FGCU) 8-3
2. Lance Lvovsky/Matthew Rock (FGCU) def. Pierre Tafelski/Peter Tauchner (MER) 8-6
3. Vincent DeLise/Joao Pagan (MER) def. Dean Tsamas/Collin Brown (FGCU) 8-5
Match Notes:
MERCER 3-6 (0-1 A-Sun)
FGCU 5-4 (2-0 A-Sun)
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (3,4,5,6,2,1)
Players Mentioned
