Fisher Clinches; Elmira Keeps Hopes Alive
St. John FIsher 9, Hartwick 0 BOX SCORE
The St. John Fisher College men's tennis team won its fourth-straight match on Saturday in convincing fashion as the Cardinals blanked Hartwick, 9-0. With the win, Fisher (8-8, 4-2 E8) has clinched a spot in the upcoming Empire 8 championship. The team's eight wins so far this season are the most since the 2007-08 season when the Cardinals posted 10 victories.
Pat McGrath posted a win at No. 1 singles, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3), while
Sheldon Mitchell won in three sets at No. 2 singles.
Nathaniel Ligon continued to dominate in the No. 3 slot, winning in straight-sets, 6-0, 6-0.
Jacob Zarzycki,
Adam Moran each earned Fisher a point, winning at No. 4 and No. 5 singles, respectively.
Kyle Stich earned Fisher its final point in one-on-one play after posting a straight-set win (6-0, 6-0) at No. 6 singles.
Fisher also swept in doubles play with McGrath and Mitchell earning a win at No. 1 doubles, 8-6. Ligon paired up with Zarzycki for a win in the No. 2 doubles spot, while Moran teamed up with
Daniel Tedesco for a win at No. 3 doubles.
Elmira 7, Alfred 2 Box Score
The Elmira College men's tennis team continued their late-season surge, defeating Alfred University 7-2 for their second win in as many days. Despite a mid-season swoon that saw the Soaring Eagles drop three Empire 8 Conference matches in a row, EC's win over the Saxons improves Elmira's conference record to 3-4 and puts the men in a position to potentially qualify for the Empire 8 Tournament.
For the second match in a row, the Soaring Eagles got off to a strong start, sweeping the three doubles matches. EC's first doubles team of
Keith Bujak '15 and
Sam Pine '14 withstood a tough test from Alfred's first doubles team of Connor Doud and Stefan Nonnenmann, but prevailed 8-5.
Satchal Waters '16 and
Austin Mansell '16 took care of business at second doubles, winning 8-3, and
Pavle Vashakidze '16 and
Scott Ferron '16 completed the sweep with an 8-4 win at third doubles.
EC's success continued in singles play as the Purple and Gold won four of the six singles matches. Bujak remained on-serve in the first set with Peter Benoit, but a late break gave Bujak the 7-5 win in set number one. The junior then won the second set 6-3 to close out the straight set victory at second singles. Pine found himself in a close match at third singles with Michael Graham, as the duo split the first two sets. With the match still in limbo, Pine and Graham were forced to play the third set to its entirety. It was a closely contested battle throughout the final set, but Pine would come out on top, 7-5, for the important victory.
Cruising to his eighth singles victory of the season was Waters, who gave up just four games en route to the 6-1, 6-3 win. Ferron notched EC's final victory of the afternoon at sixth singles, but similar to Pine, his match also went to a third set. Ferron dropped the first set 6-4, but rallied to take set number two, 6-2. With the match already decided, Ferron and his opponent played a 10 point tiebreaker in lieu of a full third set in which the sophomore pulled out the tight, 10-8 win.
With this important win under their belts, the Soaring Eagles will turn their attention to the conference match between Nazareth College and Alfred University scheduled for Tuesday, April 29th. A win by Alfred would create a three-way tie for fourth place between EC, the Saxons, and the Golden Flyers, and depending on the tiebreaker scenarios, could push the Purple and Gold into the Empire 8 Tournament for the first time since 2007.
Ithaca v Alfred & Houghton
The Ithaca College men's tennis team wrapped up Empire 8 play with a 7-2 victory at Alfred on Friday night and then posted a 9-0 win over Houghton on Saturday in matches played at St. Bonaventure. Ithaca improved its overall record to 9-6 on the season. The victory over Alfred allowed Ithaca to clinch second place in the Empire 8 standings and the Bombers will be the second seed at next weekend's Empire 8 Championships in Rochester. Ithaca concludes its regular season Sunday afternoon at home against Connecticut College.
Against Alfred,
David Andersen,
Chris Hayes and
Joey Hanf were victorious in both doubles and singles play. Andersen and Hayes were 8-4 winners at second doubles and Hanf teamed with
Nate Wolf for an 8-4 win at third doubles. Ithaca also picked up singles victories from
Justin Levineand Kyle Van Delden.
The Houghton match was a shutout victory, the fourth shutout of the season for Ithaca. Andersen and Levine won at first doubles and Hayes and Van Delden won at third doubles. Andersen, Hayes and Van Delden also won in singles play. The second doubles team of
Joey Hanf and
Zach Passman won 8-3. Hanf also won at third singles. The other singles victories were earned by
Brandon Buksbaum and
Nate Wolf.
Nazareth v St. Lawrence
Visiting St. Lawrence blanked Nazareth, 9-0, Saturday in a non-conference men's tennis match played at Mendon Racquet Club.
St. Lawrence won five of the six singles matches in straight sets. The closest match came at first singles where the Saints' John Megas defeated Nazareth's
Erik Manske in a tiebreaker. Megas won the first set 7-6, then Manske took the second set 7-5, before Megas prevailed in the tiebreaker, 10-8.
In doubles, Nazareth's team of
Christian Bryant and
Scott Trobert lost 8-4 at second doubles, while the team of
Matt Jennings and
Brian Rosiek also lost 8-4.