Men’s and women’s tennis struggle early on

The Mercer men’s and women’s tennis teams are off to a rough start in the 2013 dual match season as the men are currently sitting at 1-7 and the women are sitting at 2-5.
The men’s tennis team most recently played matches at Charlotte, Wofford, Georgia Tech and Jacksonville St.
The Bears fall to 0-5 on the year, while the 49ers improved to 4-4 on the year. Mercer dropped the early doubles point, with the freshmen brotherly duo of Arsav and Arnav Mohanty picking up a nice 8-5 win at the No. 2 doubles position. The win is the second for the brothers this season, having taken down Georgia Southern earlier in the year.
 Mercer’s best chance at a singles victory came at the No. 4 position with Joao Pagan pushing his match to three sets. Pagan faced off against Charlotte’s No. 4 Karnil Khalil and after the two traded the first two sets, 3-6, 6-3 Khalil won the third set tiebreaker, 10-8.
The men’s tennis team came up just short against Wofford losing the match 4-3.
In doubles play, the freshmen twin tandem of Arsav Mohanty and Arnav Mohanty earned the only doubles win for the Bears defeating their opponents Jackson Keith and David Sklar 8-3.
 Singles play saw several quality performances on the day which featured four three-set matches.
 At the No. 1 singles position Arnav Mohanty defeated Georgia Southern’s Drew Supestein 2-6, 7-6, 6-2.
 Playing in the No.2 singles position, freshman Anderson Scarpa defeated his opponent 6-3, 6-2.
 Peter Tauchner picked up a victory for the Bears in three sets 3-6, 6-3, 6-0.
The last match played for the Bears was against the then No. 65 ranked Georgia Tech.
In singles play, Arnav Mohanty, playing at the No. 1 singles position, took on the No. 32 ranked Juan Spir. Mohanty played close with Spir in the first set losing 6-4, but failed to capitalize in the second losing 6-1.

The team picked up their first win of the year at home against Jacksonville St. 4-3. Individual results were not yet published.
The women’s team most recently played matches against Charlotte, Johnson C. Smith, Georgia Southern and Jacksonville State.
The Charlotte 49ers defeated Mercer by a score of 4-1 as several matches did not finish play due to the results already being determined.
 In doubles play, the two teams that finished their matches fell in their respective supersets. The pairing of freshman Isabel Dennis and junior Lucie Payrat fell in a close 8-5 decision while the team comprised of freshmen Roxy Bartz and Natalie Franklin fell 8-3.
 In singles play, Franklin picked up the only win for the Bears. She defeated Natsuko Takayanagi 6-3, 6-2. Freshman Kealee Heffner played a close match against her opponent coming up just short 6-4, 6-3.
The Mercer women’s tennis team ousted Johnson C. Smith by a score of 7-0.
 All three of Mercer’s doubles teams won convincingly. Payrat and Dennis won 8-3. Freshman Liza Klyachkin and her teammate Heffner dropped their opponents in a convincing 8-0 fashion while the pairing of Franklin and Bartz also won 8-2.
 In singles play, the team only dropped a combined total of five games and did not drop a single set to their opponents.
 Dennis, Payrat and Bartz each won their matches 6-0, 6-0.  Klyackin only won convincingly as well with a 6-0, 6-1 decision. Junior Amanda Bertani slipped early, but quickly regained her poise winning 6-3, 6-2. Heffner also won her match 6-0, 6-2.
The Bears then took on Georgia Southern where they were ousted 6-1.
The women’s tennis team fell to Georgia Southern 6-1.
 Roxy Bartz picked up the win at the No. 6 singles position. Kealee Heffner played a close match with her opponent at the No. 5 singles position losing 6-4, 1-6, 6-2.
 In doubles play, Liza Klyachkin and Kealle Heffner picked up the only win defeating the team of Natalie Maffett and Jordana Klein 8-6.
The team also lost to Jacksonville St. by a score of 5-2. Individual results were not yet published.