Mercer Sweeps Tigers, Falls to Cardinals in Doubleheader

Wednesday, March 7

Macon, Ga.

11:30 a.m.

Mercer University

Ball State

Mercer Sweeps Tigers, Falls to Cardinals in Doubleheader

3/7/2018 6:18:00 PM | Women's Tennis

By: Will Tharp

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer Bears' women's tennis team split their doubleheader Wednesday afternoon, sweeping Savannah State, 7-0, and falling, 6-1, to the defending MAC Champions, Ball State.

The Bears first took on the Cardinals of Ball State to begin the day. In the doubles competition, Mercer's No. 2 duo of Katie Sidor and Anna Sovic bested Audrey Berger and Rebecca Herrington, 6-4. Court No. 3 saw the Bears' Lucia Gutierrez and Marie Mottet drop a close, 7-5, contest to Peyton Gollhofer and Lilya Hadab. The Cardinals clinched the doubles point, taking court No. 1, with Julia Sibircea and Isabelle Dohanics topping Celine Schepers and Grace Korta, 6-4.

In singles play No. 1 Sidor downed Ball State's top player, Gollhofer, in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1. The Bears' No. 2 seeded Schepers lost a heartbreaking, 6-4, 2-6, 15-13, super tiebreak to Sarah Swiderski. Ball State was able to pull away on the remaining courts winning the match, 6-1.

The Bears quickly shifted gears and turned it up a notch, as they dominated their following match with Savannah State, blanking the Tigers, 7-0. Mercer did not drop a single set along the way and only lost one game in the doubles competition.

No. 1 Schepers and Korta defeated Muskaan Ranjan and Sansriti Ranjan, 6-0. Mercer's No. 2 pairing of Sidor and Sovic earned their second victory of the day, topping Ekaterina Vorobeva and Shakendra Alston, 6-0. The Bears' Mottet and Gutierrez completed the doubles sweep with a 6-1 triumph over Sofia Shut'ko and Rachida El Kateb.

Mercer carried the momentum into singles play, rolling through their competition. On court No. 1, Sidor was near perfect in a 6-1, 6-0, win over Vorobeva. No. 2 Mottet defeated Shut'ko, 6-1, 6-4. Court No. 3 saw Korta conquer M. Ranjan, 6-1, 6-1. No. 4 slotted Sovic dropped S. Ranjan, 6-3, 6-4. No. 5 Gutierrez took a 6-1, 6-1, decision over Alston. The Bears' No. 6 Cesarini completed the sweep with a 6-1, 6-0, landslide over El Kateb.

Up Next
The Bears will continue their home stand facing Troy on Monday, March 12. The match is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.

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