MACON, Ga. – The Bears are on a roll, picking up their fifth straight win as the Mercer men’s tennis team defeated Georgia Southern, 5-2, on Thursday afternoon.

The Bears started strong, winning the doubles point and taking a 1-0 lead in the match. This was the first time in three matches that Mercer has won the doubles point as the Bears continue to improve on the courts

Sam Philp won 6-4, 6-2 at flight two and Olivier Stuart followed with a 6-4, 6-0 win at flight three to put Mercer up 3-0 overall. Georgia Southern picked up a couple of points with wins at flights four and six to make it 3-2.

Nicolas Guillon and Ruben Vanoppen both narrowly lost their first sets before winning the second to force third sets at flights one and five, respectively. Vanoppen finished his match first, clinching the win for the Bears with a 6-7 (5-7), 6-0, 6-4 win at flight five.

Guillon was up when the match was decided but played his match to completion to make the final score 5-2 after winning 6-7 (7-9), 6-2, 6-4 at flight one. Guillon, who has a 5-1 record at flight two this season, played at flight one for the first time this year.