Alfred, Elmira and Fisher Net Wins
Elmira 9, Hartwick 0 Box Score
The Elmira College men's tennis team (4-4, 1-1 E8) picked up their first Empire 8 Conference victory of the season as the Soaring Eagles swept the Hawks of Hartwick College (0-4, 0-1 E8), 9-0. Today's 9-0 victory marks the first sweep against Hartwick in over 14 seasons.
Elmira jumped out to a 3-0 lead behind strong doubles play on all three courts. From top to bottom, the Soaring Eagles fired on all cylinders as the Purple and Gold won 24 of 28 games played, including an 8-0 showing at third doubles by EC's
Pavle Vashakidze '16 and
Scott Ferron '16.
Ferron continued his strong play in singles as he put the Soaring Eagles in front, 4-0 with a decisive 6-0, 6-1 victory at sixth singles. For Ferron, it is his first singles win of the 2013-14 season.
Shortly following Ferron's win,
Austin Mansell '16 clinched the victory for Elmira at third singles with a 6-4, 6-3 win. Mansell's win improves the second-year standout to 4-2 in singles play this season.
Finishing next for the Purple and Gold was Vashakidze, who pulled out two tight sets for the win at first singles, 6-3, 7-6 (4). Vashakidze trailed 2-3 in the first set but rattled off four straight games to claim the set before forcing a tiebreaker in the second, one in which he would jump out to a 5-1 lead before winning it, 7-4.
The final three matches on the court following Vashakidze's win were at second, fourth, and fifth singles.
Keith Bujak '15, Elmira's second singles player, had his most dominant win of the season as he raced to a 6-2, 6-1 finish, his second win of the season.
Finishing next was Elmira's lone Class of 2014 member,
Sam Pine '14, who picked up a 6-0, 6-2 win at fourth singles. Pine utilized his powerful serve to dictate today's play as he cruised to his fourth win of the season, improving his record at the fourth singles position to 3-1.
Completing the sweep for the Soaring Eagles was second-year netter
Satchal Waters '16. Waters earned a convincing 6-1, 6-1 win at fifth singles, upping record at the fifth spot to 3-1 this season.
St. John Fisher 5, Nazareth 4 Box Score
The St. John Fisher College men's tennis team earned its second-straight win on Tuesday after outlasting Nazareth College 5-4 in what ended up being a six-hour marathon at Mendon Racquet Club in the Empire 8 Conference season opener for both teams. With the win, the Cardinals improve to 2-7 on the year and 1-0 in the conference standings.
With the match tied at four points apiece,
Adam Moran recovered from a first-set loss at No. 5 singles to win the next two sets, 6-3, 6-1, to give Fisher its fifth and match-winning point.
Pat McGrath and
Sheldon Mitchell got the afternoon started for Fisher, earning a hard-fought 9-8 (7-2) win at No. 1 doubles.
Nathaniel Ligon and
Jacob Zarzycki teamed up to earn a point for the Cardinals with an 8-3 win at No. 2 doubles.
McGrath also picked up a win at No. 1 singles after taking down one of Nazareth's top players in two sets, 7-6, 6-1, while Ligon also won in straight-sets at No. 3 singles.
Alfred 8, Houghton 1
Alfred University senior
Stefan Nonnenmann broke the school's career wins record as the men's tennis team whipped host Houghton College, 8-1, Tuesday afternoon.
Nonnenmann won his fourth singles match, 6-0, 6-2, and teamed with sophomore
Connor Doud to take first doubles, 8-1. The two wins give Nonnenmann a total of 72 combined singles and doubles wins in his career, a new school record.
He came into the match with 70 combined wins, which tied for the career record with former Saxons Nick Schneider (2008-12) and Nathan Garletts (2009-12). Nonnenmann now has 36 career singles wins (one behind school career leader Randy Vecchione's 37 (2002-05) and 36 doubles wins (four behind Schneider's record 40).
Also winning singles matches for AU Tuesday were: Doud, 6-1, 6-0 in first singles; senior
Peter Benoit, 6-1, 6-1 in second singles; freshman
Evan Haskins, 7-6 (7-4), 6-0 in fifth singles; and sophomore
Kyle Merrifield, 6-1, 6-4 in sixth singles.
Benoit and junior
Michael Graham teamed to win second doubles, 8-4, and Haskins and Merrifield won third doubles, 9-8.