J. Andrew Lockwood
Senior Editor / Columnist
james.andrew.lockwood@gmail.com
The Mercer men’s and women’s tennis team have started the 2010 season on a roll with lopsided defeats of Alabama State and nearby Fort Valley State. In a 7-0 blanking for the men and the women over the Hornets, both teams picked up their first victory of the year at the South Fulton Tennis Center in Atlanta.
Only one singles match and two doubles matches were even remotely competitive as the men’s starting six overmatched Alabama State’s starting lineup. Victor Dias, Mercer’s #1 seed, had the toughest singles match of the day as he lost the first set 5-7 before battling back to win the final two sets 6-3, 10-5. Peter Tauchner (#2, def. Lex Pierre 6-1, 6-1), Dave Barton (#3, def. Josh Donaldson 6-0, 6-2), Matt Poleon (#4, def. Roddrick Ivory 6-1, 6-1), and Jaron Bergeron (#6, def. Clifford Frazier 6-0, 6-2) all handled their opponents in two sets while Adam Hunt (#5) defeated Lance Delesion Jr. in a perfect 6-0, 6-0 rout.
"It was a good match and a nice way to start the season with a win,” said junior Fernando Armendaris. “Even if the scoreline was convincing you still have to go out there and take care of business and that will help us later on when we play bigger and better schools," he added.
In doubles action, all three of the matches were won by large margins with the best score being posted in the second doubles competition with Adam Hunt and Matt Poleon defeating Roddrick Ivory and Josh Donaldson 8-2.
The women looked equally impressive if not moreso with routes at all six seeds. #1 Jennifer Lada topped Alabama State’s Brittany Turner 6-0, 6-1 as teammates Anna Wieslander (#2, def. Sheniece Rawlins 6-0, 6-2), and Amalia Bugge (#3, def. Safiya Taylor 6-2, 6-0) also picked up big victories. Priscilla Dias, Sarah Hanna, and Stephanie Cohen also won their matches with 6-0, 6-0 shutouts respectively. All three of the women’s doubles matches were also blowouts as Weislander and Dias won the first match followed by victories for the Lada/Bugge and Hanna/Cohen pairings.
After a quick start on the final day in January, the men’s team returned home to the LeRoy Peddy Tennis Center for a match against Fort Valley State. A 7-0 dusting of the neighboring college improved the men’s mark to 2-0 this season.
Opening the match, Peter Tauchner and Victor Dias earned an 8-2 win over FVSU’s Drew Belk and Tomy Williams to spark the Bears in the doubles competition. The next two pairings of Adam Hunt and Evandro Rosindo and Matt Poleon and Fernando Armendaris would also record 8-0 routs over their opponents.
With a slightly different lineup in this match, Rosindo looked dominant in singles play as well, defeating Dwayne White 6-1, 6-1 while Tauchner (#2, def. Tomy Williams 6-0, 6-0), Poleon (#4, def. Kenny Thorton 6-0, 6-0), Dias (#5, def. Drew Belk 6-1, 6-1), and Hunt (#6, def. Kevin Oliver 6-1, 6-0) also turned in easy victories.
The singles match of the day came at the #3 seeding where Fernando Armendaris had a bit more work to do in battling away with FVSU’s Brandon Pringle. Armendaris would eventually sink the Wildcat’s hopes with a final score of 6-3, 6-2.
With the victories, new coach Warren Woolfolk has to be pleased with his team’s effort especially with tougher matches on the horizon against Coastal Carolina, UT-Chattanooga, Tennessee Tech, Jacksonville State, and Florida A&M on the slate for February. Conference play begins at USC-Upstate on February 27th.
Photo courtesy of Mercer Athletics
