Ithaca Blows Past Nazareth 9-0 on Senior Day
Box Score (PDF)
ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's tennis team picked up its second 9-0 sweep in less than 24 hours on Saturday morning, dispatching Nazareth College at the Wheeler Tennis Courts. The victory marked the Bombers' fourth consecutive 9-0 sweep to begin Empire 8 play.
IC could not have asked for better conditions on South Hill during Saturday morning's matinee against the Golden Flyers. With sunny skies and warm temperatures making for the most pristine conditions of the season, Ithaca honored four members of its graduating Class of 2017 prior to the pivotal E8 matchup against Nazareth. The seniors helped power the way to victory, as
Wes Davis and
Nate Wolf both took home singles and doubles wins, while
Brandon Buksbaum added a singles triumph in the dominant performance.
Ithaca jumped out to an early advantage during the doubles portion of the match. Third-flight tandem of Wolf and freshman
Colten Lavery did not relinquish a game in an 8-0 triumph over Nazareth's Jonathan Scudder and Evan Vogue. The win upped the combination's record to 5-2 on the year.
Davis and junior
Lorenzo Viguie-Ramos doubled Ithaca's lead with an 8-3 victory in the second flight to make the match 2-0 in favor of the Bombers. It was the duo's sixth win as a tandem this season. IC grabbed firm control of the match in the top flight, as freshman
Minos Stavrakas and sophomore
Michael Gardiner took an 8-4 decision over the Golden Flyers' Lamar Hurt and Dan Freilicher.
The singles portion of the match was dominated by IC. The Bombers won all six flights in straight sets to secure the sweep.
Gardiner locked in Ithaca's fourth team point in the match with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Nazareth's Louis Rogers in the second flight. The victory was his first in conference play this season. Fittingly, the senior Buksbaum scored the decisive point in the match on this day, scoring a 6-0, 6-0 whitewashing of the Golden Flyers' Andy Lee to clinch the match. The win was his second singles win of the year.
Lavery widened the IC lead with a comfortable win in the third flight, his second in as many days. He bested Freilicher 6-1 in the opening set, before rolling to a 6-0 sweep in the second frame. Fellow freshman
Max Prestwich continued to perform well in the fourth position for Ithaca. He scored a 6-3 win over Jameson Keppeler in the first frame, before also rolling to the 6-0 victory in the second set. The win evened his singles record to 7-7 on the year.
Sophomore
Stefan Lazarevic returned to the Ithaca lineup in the fifth flight. He scored a 6-3, 6-2 win to put Ithaca on the precipice of the sweep. The senior, Davis, put the exclamation point on the match with the victory in the top flight. In the tightest matchup of the day, he outlasted Nazareth's Hurt 7-6 in the opening set, winning the tiebreaker 7-5. The second frame was more comfortable, as he scored a pair of breaks in a 6-3 win. The victory marked his 45
th singles win of his career.