MACON, Ga. – The UNCG men's tennis team fell short in its conference opener at Mercer, 4-3, Wednesday at the LeRoy Peddy Tennis Center.
The Spartans fall to 4-5, 0-1 in the SoCon and Mercer improves to 7-8 with a 1-0 mark in conference action.
In doubles, Mercer took a 1-0 lead after winning two of three doubles matches. Freshman Connor Thompson (Atlanta, Ga./Holy Innocents) and senior Randy Phillips (Snellville, Ga./Brookwood) defeated Arnav Mohanty and Arsav Mohanty, 8-1 at No. 1 doubles.
At No. 3 doubles, Mercer's duo of Austin Emmet and Oliver Snaider took down redshirt sophomore William Albright (Greensboro, N.C./Grimsley) and sophomore Warren Bryan (Greensboro, N.C./The Early College at Guilford/Longwood), 8-5.
In the final doubles match, the Bears clinched the doubles point as Sam Philp and Anderson Scarpa defeated freshman James Gray (Jacksonville, Fla./The Oaks School) and Logan Walker (Stuart, Fla./Morningside Academy), 8-5, at No. 3 doubles.
In singles, Thompson tied the match at 1-1 after a straight sets win against Scarpa, 6-1, 6-1 at No. 4 singles. Mercer took a 2-1 lead after Manuel de Luis defeated junior Gaston Murray (Lake Worth, Fla./Park Vista), 6-4, 6-1 at No. 5 singles.
The Bears went ahead 3-1 after Philp won in the third set against junior Daniel Mack (Lakeland, Fla./Lakeland), 6-4, 1-6, 7-5.
Senior Cameron Smith (Jamestown, N.C./Ragsdale) cut the lead to 3-2 after a close match against Snaider, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-5), 5-0 retired at No. 3 singles. Smith was able to win the second set tiebreaker 7-5 and was ahead 5-0 before his opponent retired.
At No. 1 singles, Phillips tied the match at 3-3 with a third set win against Arnav Mohanty, 6-7 (6-8), 6-2, 6-3.
In the deciding match, Albright lost in the third set to Arsav Mohanty, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-3 at No. 6 singles.
The Blue and Gold will continue conference play at Samford Friday, March 13 at 4 p.m. in Birmingham, Ala.
Follow all the action about the 2014-15 UNCG men's tennis team on www.UNCGSpartans.com or on twitter @UNCGMTennis.
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