Tennis Splits With Jacksonville

Friday, April 13

10 am

Mercer University

Jacksonville

4/13/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis

MACON, Ga.—The Mercer tennis teams split a pair of A-Sun matches against Jacksonville on Friday afternoon at the Leroy Peddy Tennis Center.

The men claimed a 6-1 win over the Dolphins in the opening match of the twinbill, which allowed the Mercer to pick up its second conference win of the season. The win improved the Bears to 5-12 overall and 2-6 in conference matches, heading into tomorrow's regular-season finale against North Florida.

The loss dropped Jacksonville to 3-17 overall and 1-7 in A-Sun play.

The Bears were able to start off the match in solid fashion by picking up the doubles point by hardly breaking a sweat.

Mercer was able to pick up the doubles point by sweeping Jacksonville. David Barton and Victor Dias picked up an 8-1 win over Jose Fantova and Richard Casagrande at the No. 1, while Pierre Tafelski and Peter Tauchner easily dispatched Fernando Bano-Lopez and Matt Hansen, 8-1, at the No. 3.

The most-competitive of the doubles matches was at the No. 2, as Mercer's Joao Pagan and Vincent DeLise were able to overcome Eimon Heywood and Eduardo Martinez, 8-5.

The Bears might have produced a clean, 7-0, sweep of the Dolphins, however, Pagan was forced to surrender a point after having at the No. 2, after having to retire in his match against Fantova. Pagan was forced to retire as a result of an ongoing ankle injury.

Tafelski made easy work of Bano-Lopez at the No.1, winning in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0, while Tauchner put away Martinez in similar fashion, with a 6-2, 6-3 win at the No. 3. That put the Bears ahead 3-0.

After Pagan retired to make it a 3-1 match, the Bears would clinch their second conference victory of the season at the No. 6, as Victor Dias posted a 6-3, 7-6 (5) win over Larry Condez at the No. 6.

David Barton extended the Bears' advantage to 5-1 with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-0 win over Casagrande at the No. 4, before DeLise would close out the match in fitting style, taking down Hansen, 6-3, 4-6, 10-4 to provide the final margin.

The second match of the day saw the Mercer women drop a 7-0 decision to Jacksonville.

Mercer lost all three matches in the doubles competition to fall behind 1-0. In the singles competition, Lucie Payrat dropped a 2-6, 2-6 decision to Aline Staudt at the No. 1, while Jennifer Lada put up the Bears' best fight in singles play, as she dropped a 6-7, 6-0, 5-10 match to Natalia Melibeu at the No. 2.

With the 7-0 setback, Mercer falls to 2-12 overall and 0-8 in the A-Sun, while Jacksonville improves to 7-11 overall, while evening its conference record to 4-4 on the campaign.

Both the Mercer tennis teams return to action in tomorrow, with the Mercer men taking the court for a 10 a.m. match with nationally-ranked North Florida, while the women's match with the Ospreys will begin at approximately 2 p.m.

Tennis Match Results

Jacksonville vs Mercer University

Apr 13, 2012 at Macon, Ga.

Mercer University 6, Jacksonville 1

Singles competition

1. Pierre Tafelski (MER) def. Lopez, Fernando Bano (JU) 6-1, 6-0

2. Fantova, Jose (JU) def. Joao Pagan (MER) 6-3, 1-0

3. Peter Tauchner (MER) def. Martinez, Eduardo (JU) 6-2, 6-3

4. David Barton (MER) def. Casagrande, Richard (JU) 6-2, 2-6, 6-0

5. Vincent DeLise (MER) def. Hansen, Matt (JU) 6-3, 4-6, 10-4

6. Victor Dias (MER) def. Condez, Larry (JU) 6-3, 7-6

Doubles competition