Mercer Wins Thrilling Match Over Chattanooga

Sunday, March 8

Macon, Ga.

2:30 p.m.

Mercer University

Chattanooga

Photo by: Katie Linkner

3/8/2020 8:05:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

Bears win their first conference match of the season

By: Travis Rae

MACON, Ga. – In the first Southern Conference match of the season, the Mercer men's tennis team defeated Chattanooga in a thrilling 4-3 match on Sunday afternoon at the LeRoy Peddy Tennis Complex.

Chattanooga, which entered the match with a 12-4 mark and 1-0 record in the SoCon, held a 3-2 lead over the Bears. Mercer came back, tying the match with a win in No. 6 singles. Lucas Wayenburg battled back from one set down to win 6-2 in the second set to force a third set.

In the third set, Wayenburg found himself down 5-1 and hanging on to keep the Bears in the match. Wayenburg battled and won the third and final set, 7-5.

With the match on the line, both teams lined up to watch No. 3 singles. Stathis Tsiranidis and Kerim Hyatt were tied at 1 in the third set. With the match tied, Tsiranidis remained steady and took control, coming away with a 6-4 victory to claim the win for the Bears.

The Bears opened the match by winning the doubles point. After dropping No. 3 doubles, the Bears were victorious in the next two matches, taking the point.

Mercer went up 2-0 after the No. 71 singles player in the nation, Olivier Stuart, won 6-1, 1-4 as his opponent retired because of an injury.

How It Happened
SINGLES (Order: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 3)
1. No. 71 Olivier Stuart def. Niklas Gerdes, 6-1, 1-4, retire
2. Tomas Rodriguez def. Hugo Lobo, 6-1, 6-2
3. Stathis Tsiranidis def. Kerim Hyatt, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
4. Jeffrey Dewald def. Carver Arant, 1-6, 7-6, 6-2
5. Simon Bustamante def. David Georgadze, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2
6. Lucas Wayenburg def. Turner Voges, 3-6, 6-2, 7-5

DOUBLES (Order: 3, 1, 2)
1. Stuart/Lobo def. Gerdes/Rodriguez, 6-2
2. Georgadze/Tsiranidis def. Hyatt/Dustamante, 6-4
3. Voges/Plaisted def. Arant/Wayenburg, 6-4

Notables
» The Bears open their SoCon season 1-0 following the win.
» With the win, the Bears snapped a five match losing streak.
» Mercer improves to 3-2 when playing on its home court, the LeRoy Peddy Tennis Complex.
» Olivier Stuart won his eighth singles match of the season. He leads the Bears in single victories.

Up Next
The men's team hosts Alcorn State on Wednesday in a non-conference match at LeRoy Peddy Tennis Complex. First serve is set for 2:30 p.m.

Follow the Bears
For complete coverage of Mercer Men's Tennis, please follow the Bears on social media at @MercerMTennis (Twitter) and /MercerMensTennis (Facebook) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.