Ithaca Secures #2; Elmira Clinches Playoff Spot
ITHACA v ST. JOHN FISHER
The Ithaca College men's tennis team wrapped up regular season play with a 7-2 victory over St. John Fisher on Sunday afternoon, April 26 at the Wheeler Tennis Courts. The victory gave the Bombers a four-match win streak, and clinched second place in the Empire 8 standings, while Fisher finished third in the standings. Ithaca will host the conference tournament on Saturday and Sunday, May 2-3, on campus.
The Bombers started quickly with three wins in doubles play. The third doubles team of
Ericsson Bissell and
Nate Wolf won their match 8-0. The first doubles team of
Jack Melhorn and
Wes Davis got two early breaks and went on to an 8-5 win.
Chris Hayes and
Lorenzo Viguie-Ramos pulled out a 9-7 win at third doubles.
Nate Wolf and
Wes Davis rolled in their singles matches to give Ithaca the clinching points in the dual match.
Chris Hayes and
Jack Melhorn were also victorious in singles matches.
Singles competition
1.
Jack Melhorn (IC) def. Kevin Kulawiec (FISHER) 6-2, 6-2
2. Patrick McGrath (FISHER) def.
Lorenzo Viguie-Ramos (IC) 6-3, 6-2
3.
Chris Hayes (IC) def. Jacob Zarzycki (FISHER) 6-4, 6-0
4.
Wes Davis (IC) def. Adam Moran (FISHER) 6-0, 6-1
5.
Nate Wolf (IC) def. Daniel Tedesco (FISHER) 6-0, 6-0
6. Kyle Stich (FISHER) def.
Charlie Vaca (IC) 6-4, 7-5
Doubles competition
1.
Wes Davis/
Jack Melhorn (IC) def. Patrick McGrath/Jacob Zarzycki (FISHER) 8-5
2.
Chris Hayes/
Lorenzo Viguie-Ramos (IC) def. Kevin Kulawiec/Adam Moran (FISHER) 9-7
3.
Ericsson Bissell/
Nate Wolf (IC) def. Kyle Stich/Daniel Tedesco (FISHER) 8-0
Team Records:
St. John Fisher 8-9, 5-3 E8
Ithaca 9-7-1, 7-1 E8
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (5,4,2,3,1,6)
ELMIRA 6, Nazareth 3
The Elmira College men's tennis team earned their way into next week's Empire 8 Conference Tournament with a 6-3 victory over Nazareth College in their regular season finale. The postseason berth is EC's first since the tournament format changed from eight teams to four teams in 2008. The Soaring Eagles improved their overall record to 8-5 and their Empire 8 record to 5-3, both of which are the best any Elmira team has produced in over 15 years.
In addition to clinching their first Empire 8 Tournament berth in eight years, history was made today by
Satchal Waters'16. Waters entered today's match tied with former teammate
Sam Pine'14 with 25 career doubles wins. He and partner,
Keith Bujak'15, defeated their Nazareth opponent, 8-4, at first doubles to give Waters his 26th career doubles victory. Waters also moved into a tie for second place for career single wins after a straight-set victory at second singles.
The doubles matches were closely contested, but EC would prevail in two of the three to take a 2-1 advantage into singles play. Waters and Bujak jumped out to a 5-2 lead in their first doubles match and pulled away for the 8-4 win. Elmira's
Austin Mansell'16 and
Chris Konow'18 fell to their opponents at second doubles, 8-4, but the Soaring Eagles would break the tie when
Patrick Tracey'18 and
Yaniv Kogan'18 closed-out their 8-5 win at third doubles.
After a quick regroup, the Purple and Gold took the court for singles looking to clinch their win. Waters was the first to finish as he dominated Matt Jennings in a 6-2, 6-2 win. Next off the court was Mansell who, despite increased competition from his opponent in the second set, prevailed 6-1, 6-4 to make it 4-2.
Needing just one point and with three matches on the court, the Soaring Eagles looked to Konow, Tracey, and Kogan for the clinching point. Konow, like Mansell, rolled in the first set, winning 6-1. He also jumped out to a 4-1 lead in second set, his opponent would rally to make it 5-4 in favor of the freshman. Konow, with the ball on his racket, held serve and clinched the match for EC.
With the match in hand, Elmira looked to add to their win total with Tracey and Kogan still on court. Tracey won his first set 6-2, but he fell behind 5-2 in the second set. Tracey, however, would win the next five games to give him the straight set victory. Kogan played a close match, but fell in three sets at sixth singles.
ALFRED 7, Hartwick 2
The Alfred University men's tennis team wrapped up a successful 2014-15 season with a 7-2 victory over visiting Hartwick Sunday afternoon.
With the victory, AU ends the year with an 11-4 overall record and 5-3 Empire 8 Conference mark.
The Saxons won four of six singles matches. Junior
Connor Doud (Ballston Spa, NY/Ballston Spa) took first singles, 6-1, 6-1; freshman
Kevin Volz (Olean, NY/Olean) won fourth singles, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4; junior
Matt Baloga (Goshen, NY/Goshen) won fifth singles, 6-7, 6-0, 10-8; and sophomore
Patrick Brown (Olean, NY/Olean) claimed sixth singles, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1.
AU swept three doubles matches. Doud and Volz won first doubles, 8-6; senior
Michael Graham (Elmira, NY/Southside) and sophomore
Evan Haskins (East Amherst, NY/Williamsville South) won second doubles, 8-3; and Brown and Baloga won third doubles, 8-3.
STEVENS v TCNJ
The No. 24 Stevens Institute of Technology men's tennis team wrapped-up its 2015 regular season Sunday with a 6-3 win over No. 39 The College of New Jersey in Hoboken.
The win moved Stevens to 17-5 while TCNJ fell to 11-3.
For the second consecutive day, the Ducks jumped out to a commanding lead thanks to a sweep at doubles. Juniors
Ben Foran and
Matthew Heinrich took the win at No. 1, 8-3 while sophomore
Michael Feldman and freshman
Kyle Henry win in a tiebreaker at No. 2.
Freshman
Danny Polk and sophomore
Charles Drake rounded out the Stevens sweep with their 8-6 win at No. 3.
The Lions bounced back once singles started, taking a three set win at No. 1 over Heinrich and a 6-1, 6-3 at No. 2 over Feldman. Foran retired his match at No. 2, but Drake, Polk and Schulz each won their matches at fourth through sixth singles to ensure the Ducks came away with the victory.
|
SCHOOL |
CONF |
OVERALL |
|
Stevens |
8-0 |
14-5 |
|
Ithaca |
7-1 |
9-7-1 |
|
St. John Fisher |
5-3 |
8-9 |
|
Elmira |
5-3 |
8-5 |
|
Alfred |
5-3 |
11-4 |
|
Houghton |
3-5 |
7-9 |
|
Nazareth |
2-6 |
2-14 |
|
Hartwick |
1-7 |
4-7 |
|
Utica |
0-7 |
1-11 |