SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Mercer’s Olivier Stuart has been named the Southern Conference men’s tennis player of the week for all matches played April 9-15, the conference announced Tuesday. The honor is Stuart’s third of the season and second straight.

Stuart, ranked No. 122 by the ITA, went 2-0 in singles and 2-0 in doubles on the week, all in the top spot. He finished the conference regular-season slate undefeated at No. 1 singles after adding a pair of straight-set wins and has won 12 of his last 13 matches.  

In singles action, the native of Bussy Saint-Georges, France, picked up a 6-1, 6-0 win over ETSU’s top player, Frazier Rengifo, a five-time player of the week. Rengifo entered the match 12-1 on the season and 5-0 in conference play before Stuart handed him his first league loss. He then downed Samford’s Rossouw Norval 6-3, 6-0 in the regular-season finale on April 13 in Macon, Georgia, to cap off an impressive season.

In doubles play, Stuart and partner Nicolas Guillon beat Rengifo and Yusuf Khamis, 6-4, and Samford’s top duo of Daniel Orlita and Jack Lyttle, 6-3.

Mercer is the No 6 seed in the upcoming Southern Conference Championship, slated for April 18-20 at the John Drew Tennis Center in Macon, Georgia. The Bears play Chattanooga at 3 p.m. on April 18.  

Also nominated: Miguel Este (ETSU), Jake Munns (Furman), Nico Grewe (UNCG), Aleksandar Petrovic (Samford) and Niklas Gerdes (Chattanooga).

SoCon Men’s Tennis Players of the Week

Feb. 5 – Frazier Rengifo, ETSU
Feb. 12 – Olivier Stuart, Mercer
Feb. 19 – Ivan Mitric, Furman
Feb. 26 – Frazier Rengifo, ETSU
March 5 – Ivan Mitric, Furman
March 12 – Sergi Fontcuberta, ETSU
March 19 – Frazier Rengifo, ETSU
March 26 – Frazier Rengifo, ETSU
April 2 – Frazier Rengifo, ETSU
April 9 – Olivier Stuart, Mercer
April 16 – Olivier Stuart, Mercer