Mercer Downs Appalachian State, 4-3

Saturday, March 18

Macon, Ga.

10:00 AM

Mercer University

Appalachian State

Photo by: Bill Hirsh

3/18/2017 5:57:00 PM | Women's Tennis

MACON, Ga. – The Bears improved to 8-5 on the season and 6-0 at home on Saturday afternoon with a 4-3 win over Appalachian State.

Mercer won the doubles point to take a 1-0 lead in the match, but Appalachian State picked up the first singles point after Anna Sovic retired due to injury at flight six.

Katie Sidor won 6-0, 6-2 for the only straight sets win of the day to put Mercer up 2-1 over the Mountaineers. Katia Stavroulaki then won 0-6, 6-2, 6-2 at flight one to stretch Mercer's lead to 3-1.

Appalachian State closed the gap and made it 3-2 after a win at flight four, but Haley Powell sealed the win for the Bears with her 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 win at flight five. The Mountaineers grabbed another point in the final match, moving the score to 4-3.

Of the five singles matches that were played to completion, Mercer lost four of the five first sets and battled back to force third sets in all four matches.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH
Katie Sidor went 2-0 on the day after winning her doubles match with partner Anna Sovic and then winning in straight sets in singles.

COACH HAYES' TAKE
"We got off to a good start by winning the doubles point, but we fell in a big hole losing a player to injury and four of the five first sets. The team did a very good job of coming back to get the win."

Next up, the Bears are hosting Georgia Southwestern on Sunday at 1 p.m.

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Mercer 4, Appalachian State 3
March 18, 2017 | 1:30 p.m. ET | Macon, Ga. | LeRoy Peddy Tennis Center

Singles
1. Katia Stravroulaki (MER) def. Heidi Swope (APPW) 0-6, 6-2, 6-2
2. Rebecca Morse (APPW) def. Grace Korta (MER) 6-3, 5-7, 6-4
3. Katie Sidor (MER) def. Melissa Machado (APPW) 6-0, 6-2
4. Taylor Bygrave (APPW) def. Marie Mottet (MER) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
5. Haley Powell (MER) def. Megan Mullen (APPW) 4-6, 6-3, 6-0
6. McKayla Zupan (APPW) def. Anna Sovic (MER) 2-1, retired

Doubles
1. Katia Stravroulaki/Grace Korta (MER) vs. Gabrielle Wreder/Megan Mullen (APPW) 4-5, unfinished
2. Katie Sidor/Anna Sovic (MER) def. Heidi Swope/McKayla Zupan (APPW) 6-2
3. Haley Powell/Marie Mottet (MER) def. Melissa Machado/Taylor Bygrave (APPW) 6-4

Match Notes:
Appalachian State 4-14
Mercer University 8-5
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (6,3,1,4,5,2)