With Sunday being Senior Day for the men’s tennis team, it was only right for Rogerio Ribeiro (Sao Paulo, Brazil), Ismael Merino (Lima, Peru), Ricardo Pabon (Bogota, Columbia) and Sebastian Yllera (Cinco Saltos, Argentina) to go out with a win.
The Bucs are currently 14-5 overall and 7-0 in conference play. Most notably, the Bucs are ranked No. 52 in the country.
To start off the singles matches, junior David Biosca (Sant Fruitos de Bage, Spain), who is ranked No. 85 in singles, won both sets 6-2 over Mercer’s Sam Philp. Biosca is 15-4 on the season in singles and is on a nine-match win streak.
Riberio won both sets 6-3 and 6-0 over Mercer’s Arnav Mohanty. Riberio is currently on a six-match win streak in singles.
Junior Diego Nunez (Monterrey, Mexico) beat Mercer’s Nicolas Guillon, winning both sets 6-2 and 6-4. Nunez is currently on a two-match win streak.
Robert Herrera (Barcelona, Spain), the Southern Conference Player of the Week, is currently 17-2 on the season in singles and is on an 11-match win streak. Herrera dominated his first set 6-1 and was also able to secure the second set, winning 6-4 over Mercer’s Anderson Scarpa.
To cap off his Senior Day, Merino battled back after losing the first set 6-3. He controlled the second set, winning 6-0. After winning the third set 1-0 over Mercer’s Mohanty, Merino is currently on a five-match win streak.
Pabon finished off his Senior Day winning both sets 6-3 over Mercer’s Fernando Guardia. Pabon is currently on a one-match win streak in singles.
“For the rest of the team to pull together and get a win in the seniors’ last home match was great,” said coach Yaser Zaatini. “As to what they meant to ETSU, there are no words to describe it. College athletics is a cycle. They have taken care of business for us during their careers, so to see them pull out a win in their home finale was special and emotional.”
Biosca, who is ranked No. 47 in doubles, and Ribeiro were able to beat Mercer’s Ruben Vanoppen and Mohanty in the first set, 4-3. The second set was unfinished.
Nunez and Herrera captured the victory in their doubles match, winning 6-3 over Mercer’s Mohanty and Philp.
Merino and Yllera also finished with a win in their Senior Day doubles match, beating Mercer’s Zacharie El Ayat and Guardia, 6-2.
With the 7-0 shutout of Mercer, the Bucs remain undefeated in conference play.
“We look at it as one match at a time, just like we did today,” Zaatini said. “Our goal is to play every match with everything we’ve got, and hopefully that will carry us on.”
