Mercer Drops Close One To Furman In Regular Season Finale

Sunday, April 14

Macon, Ga.

Noon

Mercer University

Furman

Mercer Drops Close One To Furman In Regular Season Finale

4/14/2024 4:04:00 PM | Men's Tennis

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By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

MACON – Visiting Furman used a 7-4 tiebreaker on Court No. 3 to eke out the early doubles point, and then went hallfsies with Mercer in singles play, including tight contests on the first two courts, to post a 4-3 win over the Bears in the regular season finale for both squads on Sunday at the LeRoy Peddy Tennis Center.

The setback put a damper on Senior Day festivities for the Bears (7-12, 4-3 SoCon) who closed out the regular season with wins in seven of their last nine duals on the way to a tie for third in the league's regular season standings. It was the fifth win in the last six dual outings for the Paladins (12-11, 4-3).

Seniors Samuel Barrow, Lucas Dini and Samuel MacLeod were all honored prior to the start of Sunday's matchup on campus.

Sophomore Nemanja Stefanovic and junior Marceau Fouilhoux made short work of FU's duo of Ben Cahill and Emil Westling in their matchup at No. 2 doubles, but the Paladins bounced back with a 6-4 triumph on Court No. 1, before utilizing a 7-4 tiebreaker to clinch the doubles point with a 7-6 win at No. 3 doubles.

The Bears stormed ahead, 2-1 on the team scoreboard with straight-sets victories by Fouilhoux and senior Victor Putter at Nos. 3 and 6 singles, respectively, but Furman used a 6-4, 6-4 victory at No. 4 singles to even things back up. MacLeod put the finishing touches on his eighth singles victory of the season via a 7-5, 6-3 triumph over Walker Allen at No. 5 singles, but Furman clinched the outcome by capturing each of the last two matches on Court Nos. 1 and 2.

Mercer will dive into postseason play on Thursday when the fourth-seeded Bears battle fifth-seeded Chattanooga (9-14, 3-4) at The Champions Club in Chattanooga, Tenn. First serves are scheduled for 1 p.m.