MACON, Ga. – The Mercer Bears' men's tennis squad kicked off their Southern Conference campaign with a 6-1 victory over Chattanooga Tuesday afternoon at the LeRoy Peddy Tennis Center.
 
The afternoon began with Mercer jumping to an early 1-0 lead, as the Bears claimed the doubles competition. Mercer's No. 1 duo of Sam Philp and Olivier Stuart topped Niklas Gerdes and Simon Bustamante, 6-4. On court No. 2, the Bears' Nicolas Guillon and Ruben Vanoppen blanked Cooper Long and Jacob Marshall, 6-0. Mercer completed the doubles sweep with Carver Arant and Sachin Khurana's 6-1 victory over Pablo Llebeili and Luke Plaisted on court No. 3.
 
Mercer carried the momentum over to singles play, taking five of the six singles courts in straight sets. The Bears' No. 1 slotted Philp bested Gerdes, 6-4, 6-2. On court No. 2, Stuart defeated Bustamante, 7-6, 6-2. Mercer's No. 3 slotted Guillon rolled past Llebeili, 6-1, 6-1. Court No. 4 saw the Bears' Fernando Guardia earn a 6-4, 6-0, success over Marshall. Chattanooga claimed court No. 5 with Plaisted's 6-3, 6-1, decision over Tsiranidis. Mercer's No. 6 seeded Arant only dropped one game in his 6-1, 6-0, victory over Long.
 
Up Next
The Bears will continue Southern Conference play hosting Wofford on Sunday, March 18. The match will be held at the LeRoy Peddy Tennis Center, with a start time of 1 p.m.

Chattanooga release