Men’s tennis wrapped up the regular season over the weekend with a pair of wins over SoCon rivals Mercer and Citadel. The Bucs finish the season with a 17-4 record and currently sit at the top of the conference with a un-beaten record of 7-0.
The Bucs traveled to the Mercer Bears on Friday. With a 4-3 victory, the Bucs clinched a shared SoCon regular season title.
The Bucs got things rolling first in doubles play. Senior duo Sergi Fontcuberta (Barcelona, Spain) and David Gonzalez (Barcelona, Spain) grabbed the first win for the Bucs with a score of 6-3.
Mercer’s Nicolas Guillon and Oliver Stuart tied the set up with a 6-4 over the Bucs. Junior Miguel Este (Caracas, Venezuela) paired with red-shirt junior Chris Mikrovas (Athens, Greece) cliched the final doubles match 7-5 giving the Bucs a 1-0 advantage.
The Bears shined early in singles play, grabbing the first win. Ranked Stuart defeated Frazier Rengifo (Cali, Columbia) 6-1, 6-0. Este evened it up with a win over Sachin Khurana 6-2, 6-2. The Bears then turned the lead back in their direction when Guillon dropped Fontcuberta 6-2, 6-2, tying the points at two each.
Junior Juan Lugo (Maracay, Venezuela) pushed the momentum in the Bucs corner with a 6-4, 6-3 win, gaining his 11th straight win of the season. The Bears tied it up again before sophomore Yusuf Khamis (Cairo, Egypt) closed the door on the match with a 7-5, 7-6 showing.
“I’m glad I was able to contribute to the team this season,” said Gonzalez in regard to his last season with the Bucs.
The next day, the team came back home to host The Citadel. In an outright fashion, the Bucs’ defeated the Bulldogs 6-1, keeping their win streak alive going into championship play.
The Bucs will compete in the SoCon Championship this week starting on Thursday and continuing until Saturday.
