Men's Tennis Begins A-Sun Title Quest on Thursday

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DELAND, Fla. – Mercer University men's tennis head coach Warren Woolfolk thinks his team is in a good place heading into the first round of the Atlantic Sun Conference championships beginning on Thursday and continuing through Saturday (April 14-17), hosted by Stetson University. 

The Bears will draw No. 4 seed Stetson for their opening match.  MU defeated the Hatters in the regular season meeting, 5-2, in Macon back on March 11.

"Obviously it's great to be in the tournament and the No. 5 seed," Woolfolk said. "We feel our seed gives us the best route to the championship. Having had a good result versus Stetson in our last meeting makes us more comfortable, mentally, and is big for our confidence."

Mercer's lineup will be as follows for the opening match:  SINGLES: No. 1 – Pierre Tafelski (Jr.); No. 2 – Peter Tauchner (So.); No. 3 – Fernando Armendaris (Sr.); No. 4 – Evandro Rosindo (Sr.); No. 5 – Guilherme Frias (Fr.), and; No. 6 – David Barton (Jr.). DOUBLES: No. 1 – Tauchner/Rosindo; No. 2 – Tafelski/Barton, and; No. 6 – Armendaris/Frias.

"Pierre has been playing very well," Woolfolk said. "While the entire team has been performing well, Peter and Evandro, especially, have both gained a lot of confidence the last two matches."

Woolfolk is also hoping his team carries out all three mantras he has made the Bears recite prior to every match this season: "We are the Bears"; "We will leave everything on the court", and; "We will win conference".

"First and foremost, we want to always keep in mind to have pride in our team and in our school," Woolfolk explained. "Secondly, win or lose, we want to play every match to the best of our ability and that would make me satisfied.  Finally, our goal is not to just make it to the conference tournament. We didn't come to lose in the first or second round, but to go all the way."