Bears Tough One Out At North Florida

Sunday, March 8

Jacksonville, Fla.

11 a.m.

Mercer University

North Florida

3/8/2026 3:18:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Isak Padio rallied back from a 4-3 deficit in the deciding third set at No. 1 singles to give visiting Mercer the match-clinching point as the Bears snapped a two-match skid with a 4-3 win over North Florida on Sunday afternoon at the UNF Tennis Complex.

The decision marked the first win for the Bears (4-7) away from Macon this season, while also giving the Orange & Black back-to-back wins for the first time in the 20-year-old series. It is the second-straight loss for the Ospreys (8-5) who had a seven-match winning streak stopped on Saturday against Georgia Southern.

Mercer split doubles matchups on Court Nos. 1 and 3 to split the early action, but picked up what would turn out to be the pivotal doubles point thanks to a 6-4 victory by Amen Prince Gandonou and Shingo Masuda on Court No. 2.

Shingo Masuda registered a dominant 6-1, 6-4 victory at No. 3 singles, and Nemanja Stefanovic finished off a 6-4, 6-3 triumph at No. 2 singles, to give the visitors a 3-0 lead on the team scoreboard, but North Florida battled back and eventually evened the afternoon up after Kyle Piqueras rallied back in the second set to defeat Alex Aldaz on Court No. 4.

Padio dropped a 6-4 decision in his opening set with Andreas Scott in the featured singles tilt, but knotted the tally back up with a similar 6-4 win in the second set. Scott held a late 5-4 lead in the deciding third set, but Padio tacked up three-straight games to prevail.

Mercer will close out its five-match stretch away from home with a trip through the Volunteer State next weekend. MU will lift the lid on the Southern Conference portion of its regular season schedule when it goes toe-to-toe with East Tennessee State (10-3, 0-0 SoCon) on Friday in Johnson City, and will trek to Knoxville on Sunday for a matchup with Southeastern Conference foe Tennessee (7-9).