Lucky 7! Bears Clinch Share Of SoCon Title

Tuesday, April 8

Spartanburg, S.C.

3 p.m.

Mercer University

Wofford

4/8/2025 6:30:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score Box Score

By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Visiting Mercer gritted out a pair of doubles triumphs to grab the early team point and then got the better end of a quartet of three-set tilts in singles competition on the way to a 7-0 win at Wofford on Tuesday that clinched at least a share of the Southern Conference championship for the Bears – the first league crown in the 33-year history of the program.

It was the seventh-straight victory for the Orange & Black (11-6, 6-0 SoCon) who will take on league nemesis Samford on Saturday in Macon for the Southern Conference's outright crown. The decision marked the second-straight loss for the Terriers (6-11, 1-5) who have now dropped four-straight matchups in the 29-year-old series with MU.

Wofford set the early tone as Robbie Young and Jack Deveney registered a quick 6-3 win in the featured doubles match, but the Bears roared back with wins on the other two courts to take the early lead on the team scoreboard. Howell Burns and Esteban Davila Gasser knotted doubles play up with a 6-4 win on Court No. 3, and Mercer's No. 2 pair of Nemanja Stefanovic and Marceau Fouilhoux delivered the goods with a 6-3 win minutes later.

The Terriers grabbed a handful of resistance in the early goings of singles play, but were unable to put a point up on the board before Mercer clinched the final outcome. Hod'Abalo Isak Padio made quick work of Jack Deveney at No. 2 singles, and Tom Hagelauer put the Orange & Black on the cusp when he held off hard-charging Ian Rasheed on Court No. 4 – 6-2, 1-6, 6-4.

Fouilhoux made sure the day was littered with Orange & Black over on Court No. 5, however, when he clinched the final team outcome with a straight-sets (6-4, 6-3) ouster of Hugo Rask.

The Bears were forced to put in extra work to make the day a clean sweep, however. Burns and Amen Prince Gandonou both dropped their opening sets at Nos. 3 and 6 singles, respectively, but rebounded to eventually triumph with eerily similar 10-3 third-set tiebreakers.

Stefanovic, likewise, was challenged with a second-set loss in the featured singles match, but slammed the door in the third set with a 10-0 tiebreak win.

The Bears will close out the regular season portion of their 2025 schedule on Saturday when they suit up to host SoCon rival Samford (15-5, 5-1) at the LeRoy Peddy Tennis Center. Start time has been scheduled for 11 a.m. and admission is free.