"To beat last year's conference semi-finalist on their home court is a great achievement for this team," head coach Pierre Pilote said.  "We went from winning 4-3 at home against Mercer last year to beating them on their home court 6-1 this year, showing the improvement of this team."

Stetson (8-5, 3-1 A-Sun) swept all three doubles matches then took five of the six singles competitions from Mercer (4-6, 1-4 A-Sun). 

Freshman Hicham Laalej replaced Echtler at No. 1 singles cruised past Tobias Ohrstrom 6-3, 6-2.  The win improved Laalej's singles record to a team-best 11-2.  Kricka moved to 10-3 on year with a win over Patrick Russo, who retired early.   

Serguei Boulanov won his seventh straight singles match with a three-set win over Mario Gil in the No. 3 competition. 

Marcus Echtler and Kricka improved to 9-2 as a doubles team while Boulanov and Joey Jones went to 9-3. 

"The team performed admirably under very difficult playing conditions and a very partisan home crowd," Pilote said.

The Hatters remain on the road for a noon match at Georgia Southern on Sunday. 

Results

Stetson University vs Mercer

Mar 10, 2007 at Macon, Ga.

Stetson University 6, Mercer 1

 Singles competition

1. LAALEJ, Hicham (STET) def. OHRSTROM, Tobias (MER) 6-3, 6-2

2. KRICKA, Filip (STET) def. RUSSO, Patrick (MER) 6-1, retired

3. BOULANOV, Serguei (STET) def. GIL, Mario (MER) 6-1, 3-6, 6-4

4. JONES, Joey (STET) def. POLEON, Matthew (MER) 7-6, 2-6, 10-6

5. MITCHELL, Chapman (MER) def. STAMP, Daniel (STET) 6-3, 6-4

6. DZUBA, Peter (STET) def. STARR, Nathan (MER) 6-3, 6-1

 Doubles competition

1. ECHTLER, Marcus/KRICKA, Filip (STET) def. GIL, Mario/POLEON, Matthew (MER) 8-3

2. JONES, Joey/BOULANOV, Serguei (STET) def. RUSSO, Patrick/MITCHELL, Chapman (MER) 8-3

3. DZUBA, Peter/STAMP, Daniel (STET) def. OHRSTROM, Tobias/STARR, Nathan (MER) 8-5

Match Notes:

Stetson University 8-5, 3-1 A-Sun

Mercer 4-6, 1-4 A-Sun