Men’s tennis closed out their season with a 4-0 loss to eventual champions Samford University in the 2025 Southern Conference Championship semifinals in Chattanooga, Tenn. on Friday.
Despite coming into the tournament on a hot streak, winning eight of their last 10 matches, Mercer could not contain the Bulldogs, losing at line two and three doubles, as well as lines four and six in singles.
Samford had been a thorn in the Bears side throughout the whole season, beating them the prior week in the regular season finale, 4-3, and providing a constant pressure against Mercer’s SoCon aspirations. The title is the Bulldogs' first since 2013, according to the SoCon.
The semifinals started off with a quick win for Samford, with the duo of Victorio Sardinha and Sebastian Harrison, who hold the SoCon record for third-line doubles wins with 9, beating the Mercer duo of Howell Burns ‘26 and Esteban Davila Gasser ‘27.
The streak for the Bulldogs continued with two more quick wins in line two doubles and line four singles, including a quick exit for Mercer’s SoCon-leading doubles team of Hod’Ablo Isak Padio ‘25 and Amen Prince Gandonou ‘26.
The Bears’ first winning season in eight years ended with a loss by Burns against Samford’s Will Gray in straight sets.
Mercer finished the 2025 regular season with a record of 12-8 and a conference record of 6-1, clinching the program’s first share of the SoCon conference title in the team’s history. Nemanja Stefanovic '26 captured the program’s second-ever SoCon Player of the Year, while coach Eric Hayes won his second Coach of the Year honor. Padio and Stefanovic also were named to the SoCon All-League team.
Jacob Hossler '28 is an English and Law and Public Policy double major at Mercer University. While not serving as the Sports Editor at The Cluster, he enjoys running, writing and photography.
