Macon, Ga. –  Georgia Southern Men's Tennis fell to the Mercer Bears Tuesday 3-4.  The Eagles (5-10) lost the decisive doubles point, but rallied to a 3-3 tie through singles thanks to key wins by Ristomatti Lanne, Joan Carles Alcala and Jose Landin.  The final match, however, did not go in favor of the Eagles.

"We lost another heartbreaker," commented Head Coach Alexander Koning.  "We had a good opportunity to win doubles, were up a break a couple of times, but didn't close it out.  We got comfortable when we got the lead instead of continuing to push through, and Mercer made us pay for it."

In doubles, Lanne and Kyle Hoffman defeated Armav Mohanty and Arsav Moharty 8-7 (7-1), however, Austin Emmet and Oliver Snaider setback Nico de Groof and Albert Codina Sala 8-3 while Sam Philip and Anderson Scarpa bounced Christian Kerrigan and Alcala 8-7 (6-4).

Down 1-0 heading in to singles, Mercer added another point when Mohanty took down Kerrigan 6-1, 6-3 in the No. 4 position.  Moments later, Landin defeated Ruben Vanoppen 6-4, 6-1  at No. 6 to make it 2-1 in favor of the Bears.

Alcala got the job done at No. 5 when he defeated Manuel de Luis 6-1, 6-4 to draw the score to a 2-2 tie.  

The bears took a 3-2 advantage when Scarpa setback Hoffman in the No. 3 position 6-4, 6-4.  Lanne evened the match a 3-3 at the No. 1 position when he claimed victory over Mohanty 7-5, 6-3.

The match-winner came in the No. 2 spot when Philip defeated Codina Sala 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to seal the fate of the Eagles.  With the win, the Mercer Bears improve to 8-11 on the year.

"In singles, the guys fought hard and we gave ourselves an opportunity to win, but forgot to stay in the process.  I feel terrible for Albert, he has been working so hard on and off the court.  Hopefully, he will get another chance to do it right.  After the match, I told them 'Breakdowns before breakthroughs' – It is up to us to change it and fortunately we will get to play tomorrow and do better."

The Eagles return home for a Wednesday continuation match against the South Carolina State Bulldogs.  The bulldogs will come in to the match up 1-0 after doubles, after the match was postponed during the Troy Trojan Invitational earlier this season.  Match time is 4 p.m. at the Wallis Tennis Center.

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