Five Players Named to All-SoCon Teams

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Mercer men's tennis program earned five selections to the 2023 postseason All-Southern Conference teams announced by the league office. Marceau Foulihoux, Samuel MacLeod, and Lucas Dini were selected for the All-SoCon Singles Second Team, Foulihoux and Nemanja Stefanovic were named to the All-SoCon Doubles Second Team, and Stefanovic was awarded SoCon All-Freshman Team honors.

Foulihoux paced the team in singles this season with a 17-4 overall record and 6-1 record in the conference. His 17-4 record led the entire conference in overall win percentage. The Lyon, France, native won eight of his last nine singles matches and clinched a tight match against Wofford for the Bears. Foulihoux began the season playing on courts five and six but earned his spot on court four for all of conference play.

Also finishing 6-1 in the conference was MacLeod who posted a 12-9 record overall. He finished the season with five consecutive wins, all in straight sets. The junior clinched the final match of the regular season against Samford. The highlight of his singles season came when he clinched the match against ETSU, handing the Bucs their first conference loss since rejoining the SoCon in 2015.

In his first season with the Bears, Dini earned nine wins including four in the SoCon. He won four-straight matches in conference play at the second singles slot.

Foulihoux and Stefanovic settled in as a consistent pairing at the end of February and only lost two matches together, finishing 9-2 overall. The duo went 6-1 in the conference, winning the final five matches of the regular season. In the Bears' monumental win over ETSU, Foulihoux and Stefanovic clinched the doubles point which proved to be crucial. Peyton Gatti and Simon Labbe of Chattanooga, who earned All-SoCon Doubles First Team honors, were the only other doubles pair in the conference to finish at 6-1 while no duos posted a perfect record.

As a true freshman, Stefanovic earned eight singles wins, four of which came in his final five matches. Stefanovic closed out the season playing consistently on court three where all four of his conference wins were earned in straight sets.

NOTABLES

This is the first year since 2018 that Mercer earned three All-Conference Singles honors.
Stefanovic is the fourth player to earn SoCon All-Freshman Team honors for Mercer and the first since 2019.
The Bears have earned All-Conference Singles honors in seven of the eight years that Mercer has been a member of the SoCon*.
Mercer has earned All-Conference Doubles honors in five of the eight years since joining the conference*.

*When awards were given – no selections in 2020 due to shortened season

The Mercer men's tennis program begins play in the Southern Conference Championships beginning on Thursday, April 20 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. As the No. 2 seed, the Bears will face No. 7 Wofford in the first round at 10:30 a.m.

2023 ALL-SOUTHERN CONFERENCE AWARDS
2023 Southern Conference Player of the Year
Dimitri Badra, R-Jr., ETSU

2023 Southern Conference Freshman of the Year
Jerry Barton, Furman

2023 Southern Conference Coach of the Year
Chuck Merzbacher, Chattanooga

2023 Southern Conference Buddy Hartsell Sportsmanship Award
Hayden Shoemake, Jr., The Citadel
Robbie Young, So., Wofford

2023 All-Southern Conference Men's Tennis
First team
Singles
Hayden Shoemake, The Citadel
Dimitri Badra, ETSU
Thiago Pernas, ETSU
Jerry Barton, Furman
Maxwell Giddens, Samford
Kerim Hyatt, Chattanooga
Doubles
Hayden Shoemake/Sebastian Kamieniecki, The Citadel
Sandeep Mohandoss/Maxwell Giddens, Samford
Peyton Gatti/Simon Labbe, Chattanooga

Second team
Singles
Lucas Dini, Mercer
Marceau Foulihoux, Mercer
Samuel MacLeod, Mercer
Mohammed Ali Bellalouna, Samford
Sandeep Mohandoss, Samford
Gabriel Castillo Sanchez, Chattanooga
Doubles
Dimitri Badra/Adam Nagoudi, ETSU
Marceau Foulihoux/Nemanja Stefanovic, Mercer
Kerim Hyatt/Kristof Kincses, Chattanooga

All-Freshman
Pedro Cressoni, ETSU
Jerry Barton, Furman
Thomas Kennedy, Furman
Nemanja Stefanovic, Mercer
Darcy Nicholls, Samford
Cortland Grove, Chattanooga

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Players Mentioned

Lucas Dini

Marceau Fouilhoux

Samuel MacLeod

Nemanja Stefanovic

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