Women’s tennis struggles in Birmingham, Ala.

The Mercer women’s tennis team most recently took their talents to Birmingham, Ala. to take on Samford and UAB.
In their first match against Samford, the talented Bulldog squad proved to be too much for the Bears as they were upended 7-0.
In doubles play, the Bears were unable to gain any momentum as all three pairings lost their in a convincing fashion. Freshman Isabel Dennis and junior Lucy Payrat paired up for the No. 1 doubles match and lost 8-2.
Freshmen Liza Klyachkin and Kealee Heffner also dropped their doubles match 8-2.
The pairing of Roxy Bartz and Amanda Bertani could not earn a point against their opponents losing 8-0.
Playing at No. 1 singles was freshman Isabel Dennis. The Newnan, Ga. native could not muster up enough power to defeat her opponent Kristin Lewis and dropped the match in two sets.
The No. 2 through No. 6 positions saw extremely similar results as Lucy Payrat, Natalie Franklin, Liza Klyachkin, Kealee Heffner and Roxy Bartz all lost their matches in two sets as well.
Just a day after the losing effort at Samford, the Bears had to turn around and play a round of matches against the UAB Blazers.
Like the Bulldogs, the Blazers were able to defeat Mercer soundly. The Bears yet again lost the match 7-0.
Again, the Bears were beaten soundly in doubles play. Each doubles pairing lost their matches 8-3.
In singles play, the Bears once again were swept. All players in singles play dropped their matches in two sets.
Despite the loss to the Blazers, there were some bright spots for the Bears. Freshman Isabel Dennis continues to grow into her role in the No. 1singles slot, but lost 6-2, 6-2 to UAB’s Isabel Fernandez on Sunday. Mercer’s Natalie Franklin gave the Bears’ their closest match in the singles competition with a 6-4, 6-3 loss to UAB’s Amy Lowther.
The Bears now drop to 1-2 on the year. The team travels next to Charlotte, N.C. to take on the University of Charlotte on Sat., Feb. 9 at 1 p.m. and Johnson C. Smith on Sun., Feb. 10 at 10 a.m.