Mercer women’s tennis began conference play defeating both Lipscomb and Northern Kentucky in their opening weekend. The team advanced to a season record of 8-9 for the 2014 season.
The Bears are currently tied for first place in the Atlantic Sun Conference with a conference record of 2-0. East Tennessee State shares the tie with the Bears.
After securing two consecutive conference wins, the Bears have a current win streak of three matches, the best for the Bears all season.
Friday, March 14, the team hosted the Lipscomb Bisons in a 4-2 decision, opening the match with the one and three doubles pairs beating Lipscomb to secure the doubles point.
Danielle Jones and Lucie Payrat in the one seed and Haley Powell paired with Natalie Franklin helped win the doubles points.
In singles play -- Payrat in the two seed, Roxy Bartz in the three, Franklin in the five and Liza Klyachkin in the six -- all remained victorious to the 4-2 win, which resulted in the first Mercer defeat over Lipscomb since 2010.
The hot streak continued when the Bears defeated Northern Kentucky 5-2. The Bears were able to capture the doubles point by defeating the Norse’s one pair and three pair.
In singles action, Bartz played in the two, Powell in the three, Franklin in the four and Klyachkin in the five spot. They all recorded wins.
On the weekend Franklin commented, “The matches went great, our intensity was incredibly high and everyone was really in it.” She continued, “It was great that I could be apart of the wins and help the team achieve our goal.”
With conference play underway the preparation and importance of each match is crucial. Franklin added, “We are just taking every match at a time and we are focused and determined to win each match and put forth every bit of work to get to the conference tournament.”
The top six ranked teams receive a bid to the end of the season conference tournament. Bartz said, “We just have to believe we can get it done and just do it. I’ve got faith in us. We need to get our focus and train harder to prepare ourselves for what is to come next.”
The Bears are back on the road to DeLand, Fla., to play Stetson Friday, March 28.
Women’s tennis undefeated in conferece
