Mercer Drops SoCon Opener At Samford, 4-3

Friday, March 20

Birmingham, Ala.

2:30 p.m.

Mercer University

Samford

3/20/2026 8:22:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Mercer women's tennis team dropped a close match in its SoCon opener Friday at Samford, 4-1, in Birmingham, Alabama.

Starting with doubles, Samford's Cathy Cardona and Laila Fishman defeated Jelena Gojkovic and Valentine Abide Talaki, 6-3. Samford's Eleni Liakonis and Hailey Troup clinched the doubles point for the Bulldogs with a 6-4 win over Sofiya Tsitavets and Tea Zivic.

In singles action, Sofiya Tsitavets played two strong sets in a 6-0, 6-2 win over Samford's Eleni Liakonis. On court six, Hailey Troup of Samford earned a 6-2, 6-2 win over Jelena Gojkovic to give Samford a 2-1 lead.

Over on court one, there was a long tiebreaker in the first set between Marina de Diego Quinones and Samford's Sara Erenda. Marina de Diego Quinones ended up winning the hard fought first set and followed it up with a strong showing in the second set to win, 7-6(9), 6-1.

Cathy Cardona of Samford and Ines Hömberg played three sets in which ultimately Cardona came away with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win to give Samford a 3-2 lead. Tea Zivic tied the match for the Bears with a 7-5, 7-5 win on court two over Samford's Lea Erenda.

The match came down to a clash on court four between Marie Bannmeyer and Samford's Laila Fishman. The match needed three sets to decide the winner and Fishman was able to defeat Bannmeyer, 6-7, 6-4, 6-2.

Mercer will play a non-conference match at home on Sunday against UAB. The match scheduled to start at 1 p.m. from the Copelan Tennis Complex.