Bears Post Big Weekend At Samford Invitational

Friday, September 27

Birmingham, Ala.

All Day

Mercer University

Samford Invitational

stefanovic

Bears Post Big Weekend At Samford Invitational

9/29/2024 8:48:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score Results

By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Junior Nemanja Stefanovic and newcomer Hod'Abalo Isak Padio both turned in unblemished weekends on the court to pace the Mercer men's tennis team to an impressive performance at the three-day Samford Invitational.

Mercer captured a combined eight of its 11 doubles matches with Chattanooga, Lipscomb and the host Bulldogs in Birmingham, while also posting a combined 13-12 mark in singles play.

Stefanovic yielded just 10 games across a three-match run through singles play that included wins over a pair of Southern Conference foes. Padio had a similar run through singles play at Samford's Pat M. Courington Tennis Pavilion, including a dominant 6-1, 6-0 triumph over Samford's Darcy Nicholls in his Mercer debut on Friday.

Padio and junior college/MU teammate Amen Prince Gandonou rifled through doubles competition as well, and accentuated their stay in Birmingham by toughing out a 7-5 win over Lipscomb's Facundo Perlov and Juan Lombisano on Sunday. Stefanovic and court mate Marceau Fouilhoux were dominant in doubles action, surrendering just nine games on the way to recording a 3-0 mark.

Junior Howell Burns joined the success party as well on the weekend with a pair of singles victories, both against SoCon competition. Newcomer Esteban Davila Gasser picked up his first collegiate singles win with a straight-sets triumph over Chattanooga's Sebastian Johnson, as did Macon native Cameron Douthit with a 6-2, 6-3 ousting of Lipscomb's Alex Pinkston.

The Orange & Black will be back in action again this weekend when it bunkers down to host the annual Mercer Gridiron Classic at the John Drew Smith Tennis Center in north Macon.