Bears Take On No. 14 UCF On Sunday

MACON – The Mercer men's tennis team will continue a season-opening three-match road trip on Sunday afternoon when the Bears make a return trip to the Sunshine State to battle 14^th-ranked UCF at the USTA National Campus. First serves are scheduled for 5 p.m.

Fans unable to make the trip to central Florida can still follow all of the action for free via a live scoring link provided by the UCF athletics department. The match will also be streamed live via the Save My Play app.

Despite playing loud for a majority of the matchup, the Bears (0-1) are fresh off of a 7-0 defeat at the hands of 22^nd-ranked Florida State on Sunday in Tallahassee, Fla. The Seminoles seized the momentum of clinching the early doubles point and did just enough in singles play despite a hard charge by the Orange & Black. The hosts completed the sweep with a trio of three-sets singles wins.

Senior Hod'Abalo Isak Padio will continue to carry the torch for the Bears into singles play after tallying nine victories across the fall portion of the 2025-26 schedule, while MU's duo of Amen Prince Gandonou and Alex Aldaz tacked up a team-best seven doubles wins. Mercer's tandem of Padio and Nemanja Stefanovic nearly picked off Florida State's 43^rd-ranked doubles team in Sunday's dual match, but that tilt was abandoned when FSU clinched the doubles point.

The Knights (2-0) opened the spring portion of their schedule with a doubleheader sweep on Sunday at home. UCF blanked Florida Gulf Coast in the early matchup, before surrendering just one point later in the day on the way to a 6-1 victory over Louisiana. UCF toughed out a 6-4 win in the marquee doubles match to grab the early 1-0 lead on the team scoreboard, and then wrestled away points in three singles matches that went the distance.

UCF leads the all-time series with the Bears, 2-0, but Sunday's contest will mark the first meeting between the two sides since Jan. 17, 2020.

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Players Mentioned

Alex Aldaz

Amen Prince Gandonou

Hod'Abalo Isak Padio

Nemanja Stefanovic

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