Bears Drop Heartbreaking 4-3 Decision to Jacksonville State

Wednesday, February 28

Macon, Ga.

2:30 p.m.

Mercer University

Jacksonville State

Bears Drop Heartbreaking 4-3 Decision to Jacksonville State

2/28/2018 8:24:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Will Tharp

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer Bears' men's tennis squad fell 4-3 at the hands of Jacksonville State Wednesday afternoon at the LeRoy Peddy Tennis Center.

The afternoon kicked off with Mercer claiming an early 1-0 lead as they seized the doubles point. Mercer's No. 3 seeded Carver Arant and Stathis Tsiranidis fell 6-3 to the Gamecocks' Guillermo Agost and Andres Gomez. On court No. 2, the Bears evened the odds as Ruben Vanoppen and Nicolas Guillon topped Pablo Caffarena and Sergio Lizarraga, 6-2. Mercer's No. 1 pairing of Sam Philp and Olivier Stuart clinched the doubles point as they were forced to a tiebreak, but prevailed, 7-6 (1), over Alijaz Kaplja and Joaquin Vallejo

The Bears' No. 1 seeded Philp continued his success, downing Kaplja in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. Court No. 3 saw Guillon fall, 6-4, 6-2, to Vallejo. On court No. 2, the Bears stretched their lead once more with Stuart's, 7-5, 6-3, straight set victory over Caffarena. The Gamecocks clawed back as their No 4 slotted, Agost defeated Fernando Guardia, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. Jacksonville State's No. 6 Gomez tied the match at 3-3, with his, 6-4, 6-3, victory over Vanoppen. The match was decided on court No. 5, in a thrilling three-setter, but the Bears fell just short as Tsiranidis fell 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, to Sergio Lizarraga.

Up Next
The Bears will have a few days rest before heading to DeLand, Fla. to face Appalachian State next Monday, March 5, beginning at 10 a.m.

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