Women’s tennis opened the 2025-26 spring season with a 2-2 record through its first four matches, besting Florida A&M University and the College of Charleston while falling short to Clemson University and Georgia State University.
Prior to the start of spring play, the Bears competed in a full fall schedule that included the Mercer Gridiron Classic, Georgia Southern Fall Shootout, ITA Regional Championships, UTC Steve Baras Invite and the Wofford Invite.
Head Coach Eric Hayes, who also coaches the men's team, leads the Bears this spring in his 13th season. During the 2024 season, Hayes guided Mercer to a 7-14 overall record and a 3-4 mark in Southern Conference play. The Bears earned the No. 5 seed in the SoCon Tournament and looked to match the success of their 2023 postseason semifinals run, but fell short in the first round to Western Carolina University.
Mercer recorded multiple conference wins down the stretch, though, including victories over the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Samford University.
The team opened its 2025-26 season with a match against Clemson on Jan. 16, dropping all seven games against the Tigers in an away matchup. The team bounced back with a 7-0 victory against Charleston, and followed that match with a 4-1 road win against Florida A&M on Jan. 27 in Tallahassee, Fla., improving to 2-1 overall. Mercer faced Georgia State on Feb. 7 in Atlanta, leaving with a loss 4-1.
Through early spring competition, Mercer has posted a 44-42 record in singles play and a 30-19 mark in doubles. The Bears' strong doubles play is led by Marina de Diego Quinones '26 and Ines Hömberg Fernandez '28, who have combined for an 8-1 record. Antonia Schweigel '29 and Valentine Talaki '27 contributed a 5-2 mark.
Mercer’s roster is comprised entirely of internationally-born players, five of whom have been with the Bears for multiple years. In addition to Quinones and Hömberg Fernandez, both from Spain, Schweigel, from Germany and Talaki, from Togo, the Bears feature Marie Bannmeyer '28 and and Tea Zivic '27 from France, Jelena Gojkovic '28 from Serbia and Sofiya Tsitavets '28 from Belarus.
The Bears’ upcoming spring schedule includes four straight home matches, including a Feb. 8 face off against the University of North Georgia. Conference play kicks off with an away match at Samford on March 20, while SoCon tournament play begins April 17 in Chattanooga, Tenn.
