Mercer making strong impression with long winning streak

After a decent start to the season at the Florida State Invitational, the Mercer men’s tennis team broke out the gate with a 16-match winning streak that continued with a 7-0 win over Georgia Southwestern on Sunday.

The Bears have drawn a fair amount of attention due to their performances on the court. Oliver Start, a freshman, was named the Southern Conference Player of the Week last week after a 4-0 run the week before.

The Bears have shown steady improvement the past couple of years under the direction of head coach Eric Hayes, but this year’s team has taken off and hasn’t lost since its opening weekend in Tallahassee, Florida.

“Right now, I’d put this team up against anyone on our schedule,” Hayes said. “If we get beat, we shake their hands, say, ‘Good luck’ and come out the next day.”

Mercer’s strong play could lead to big things in the conference this season. The Bears are 2-0 in the Southern Conference entering their home match Friday against East Tennessee State.

Hayes said he attributes much of the team’s success to matches it won earlier in the year that helped to boost the team’s confidence. Also, he said the improvement comes from being able to recruit players who can have a positive impact on the program.

“I’ve been to a few different schools. I’ve been doing this 28 years, and at Mercer, you really do have to get a student-athlete,” Hayes said. “You definitely have to find someone that is very good academically, that has high achievement goals and that kind of carries over to the tennis.”

Ruben Vanoppen is a junior leader, and he is 11-4 in singles matches this season.

“I think it’s very important that at this moment in comparison to other seasons, no matter what happens, we have the feeling that we can win even if we are down, even if we’re up, to have this huge confident boost because we know we’ll finish it,” Vanoppen said.

The Bears will get to see exactly where they stand against East Tennessee State, one of the top program’s in the Southern Conference. Sam Philp, a junior with a 12-4 singles record, said he’s motivated this weekend because of a defeat handed to them last year by the Buccaneers.

“They’re a very good team; that’s why they haven’t lost any matches recently,” Philp said. “They’re going to be confident, but I think with the way we’re playing we’re going to be confident and we really want to get at them for the past two years.”

Hayes said his main plan to uphold Mercer’s winning season is to keep his players healthy and not overwork them. But he also said he is not overly concerned with maintaining the streak.

“The whole goal is to win the conference tournament,” Hayes said. “It would be great if we won Friday, but it won’t end our season.”

The players, however, have not shied away from the streak that has raised their record to 17-2.

“The guys think about it every darn day,” Hayes said. “I don’t, honestly. I had a team win 19 in a row once, and they didn’t maintain it. You just have to stay level-headed with it. I enjoy seeing the confidence their getting. You can’t fake confidence; you have to win against opponents to gain confidence.”

This story was originally published March 22, 2017 at 3:13 PM with the headline "Mercer making strong impression with long winning streak."