Bears Drop Tight Match to Furman

Wednesday, April 12

Greenville, SC

3 p.m.

Mercer University

Furman University

Teodora Ristic and Mary Weston Courville high fiving after a point

4/12/2023 10:52:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

By: Amanda Cover

GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Mercer women's tennis team (11-9, 3-3) narrowly fell, 4-3, to Furman (10-11, 6-0) on Wednesday in a lengthy match over four hours in duration. The Bears had a match point at the second doubles slot, but dropped the doubles point and fell short with only three singles wins.

The doubles competition lasted over an hour to decide a winner. Mary Weston Courville and Teodora Ristic teamed up at the first doubles slot for a comfortable 6-1 win to mark their sixth-straight victory. The pair won the first four games to take control early against 71^st-ranked Jess Dawson and Sara Snyder.

On court two, Camilla Ciaccia and Eden Schlagenhauf played a lengthy contest against Marissa Pennings and Elli Schulson. The Mercer duo won an early break to lead 2-0, but the Paladins kept it within reach and tied it up at 6-6 to force a tiebreak. Furman emerged on top 12-10 in the tiebreak to take the doubles point.

Ciaccia tied the match up with a swift singles win on court four. She swept Dawson in the first set and closed it out with a 6-3 win in the second to earn the first point for the Bears.

Furman took the next three points to clinch the match after wins on courts six, three, and five. The teams played out the rest of the contests as Mercer won the final two matches.

After dropping the first set 6-2 to Pennings, Courville battled back to win the second 7-5 and earn the win after a 6-4 victory in the third set. The defending Southern Conference Player of the Week improved to 13-6 overall and 5-0 in the conference after her seventh-straight singles win.

On court one, Ristic won her first set 6-3 but was edged 6-3 in the second by Schulson. Ristic battled through an intense third set to win the tiebreak, 7-5.

UP NEXT: Mercer's final match of the season is on Sunday, April 16 at 11 a.m. at UNCG.

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