Ithaca Defeats RPI, Falls to Amherst in First Day Split
ORLANDO, Fla. – The Ithaca College men's tennis team split the first two matches of its spring break trip to the United States Tennis Association (USTA) National Training Campus in Orlando, Fla., on Tuesday. The Bombers opened the day with a hard-fought 5-4 victory over future conference foe Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, before rounding out the day with a 9-0 loss at the hands of No. 15 Amherst in the afternoon session.
The split on the day evens Ithaca's record at 2-2 on the year. The Bombers will round out the week of action with two more matches on Thursday, March 16. Ithaca will face NCAA Division II Bloomsburg, before capping the trip with a date with Colby Sawyer.
Picking up victories on the day were freshmen
Minos Stavrakas and Colton Lavery in singles action, while Ithaca had three doubles tandems earn victories over the Engineers in the opening match of the day.
Ithaca College 5 – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 4
Doubles
1.
Minos Stavrakas/
Michael Gardiner (IC) def. Sebastian Castillo-Sanchez/Zack Ebenfeld (RPI) | 8-6
2.
Wes Davis/
Lorenzo Viguie-Ramos (IC) def. Tristan Wise/Winston Yu (RPI) | 8-6
3.
Nate Wolf/
Colten Lavery (IC) def. Suryansh Patel/Stephen Baxter (RPI) | 8(3)-7
Singles
1.
Minos Stavrakas (IC) def. Sebastian Castillo-Sanchez (RPI) | 6-3, 6-1
2. Xavier Oshinowo (RPI) def.
Michael Gardiner (IC) | 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
3.
Colten Lavery (IC) def. Winston Yu (RPI) | 7-5, 6-2
4. Zack Ebenfeld (RPI) def.
Nate Wolf (IC) | 6-2, 7(3)-6
5. Stephen Baxter (RPI) def.
Max Prestwich (IC) | 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
6. Suryansh Patel (RPI) def.
Lorenzo Viguie-Ramos (IC) | 6-3, 6-2
Ithaca raced out to a commanding 3-0 lead through the doubles portion of the match. Stavrakas and Gardiner got IC on the board with an 8-6 victory in the top flight. Davis and Viguie-Ramos doubled the advantage shortly thereafter with another 8-6 decision. Wolf and Lavery completed the Bombers dominant start, winning three straight tiebreaker points to win an 8-7 match in the third flight.
Stavrakas put Ithaca within one point of clinching the match with a comfortable 6-3, 6-1 win over RPI's Sebastian Castillo-Sanchez in the top flight. Although the Engineers staved off the loss with wins in the sixth- and fourth-flights, respectively, Lavery clinched the match for IC with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Winston Yu in the third flight.
No. 15 Amherst 9 – Ithaca College 0
Doubles
1. Jon Heidenberg/Gabe Owens (AMHERST) def.
Minos Stavrakas/
Michael Gardiner (IC) | 8-5
2. Oscar Burney/Sam Silver (AMHERST) def.
Wes Davis/
Lorenzo Viguie-Ramos (IC) | 8-4
3. Oliver Kendall/Cameron Raglin (AMHERST) def.
Nate Wolf/
Colten Lavery (IC) | 8-6
Singles
1. Jon Heidenberg (AMHERST) def.
Minos Stavrakas (IC) | 7-6 (7-2), 6-1
2. Jesse Levitin (AMHERST) def.
Michael Gardiner (IC) | 7-6 (7-5), 6-1
3. Nathan Kaplan (AMHERST) def.
Colten Lavery (IC) | 6-1, 6-2
4. Chris Paradis (AMHERST) def.
Nate Wolf (IC) | 6-2, 6-2
5. Sam Silver (AMHERST) def.
Max Prestwich (IC) | 7-6 (11-9), 6-0
6. Cameron Raglin (AMHERST) def.
Liam Spiegel (IC) | 6-2, 6-3
The Bombers were shutout during the afternoon session against national power Amherst. IC lost three relatively tight contests during the doubles portion of the match to fall into an early hole.
Ithaca attempted to make a comeback in the singles portion, forcing first-set tiebreakers in the first-, second-, and fifth-flights. Unfortunately, IC was unable to secure any of the tiebreaks in dropping straight-set battles across the board.