On senior day, the Bombers took care of business against the St. John Fisher Cardinals 7-2. The win is the Bombers’ fourth straight in conference play, improving their record to 5–1 in the Empire 8.
The Bombers got off to another fast start in doubles by sweeping the Cardinals 3-0, one of those teams being the pair of sophomore Derryk Williams and lone senior Kyle Reither, who won his last home doubles match 8-4.
In first singles, junior Griffin Reid was victorious in straight sets (6-1, 6-2). Junior David Anderson also added a win without dropping a set in fourth singles (6-0, 6-2).
For third singles, freshman Chris Hayes had another quality match, winning in straight sets (6-3, 6-0). Hayes said he felt he got off to a tough start, but in the end he was able to adjust for a solid win.
“In the first set, I dropped a couple games but then I started to play better,” he said. “The next set I was able to get everything going and I didn’t look back.”
Freshman Joey Hanf also earned a good win in sixth singles (6-2, 6-2), a spot that has been switched around frequently because of the team’s injury problems. For the Bombers to compete in the Empire 8 playoffs, they need solid performances from the bottom of the lineup, and Hanf said he brought his best today.
“My serve was great,” he said. “I went out there and played aggressive. My forehand was really working and I was able to dictate points because of it.”
Coming into the day, the Bombers knew they were going up against another Empire 8 playoff team. The Cardinals will be the No. 4 seed in next week’s tournament in Hoboken, NJ, and for Hanf and the rest of the squad, a win against a team they could face down the road was key for them.
“This was a big match for us, Fisher is a solid school,” he said. “It was good to start up 3-0 in doubles, got a lot of good wins in singles and this should be a big confidence booster for the rest of the season.”
Head Coach Bill Austin said he was impressed with what he saw and again looked at doubles to be a key point. He said if they can keep on starting matches off like that then it will be tough for teams to beat them in matches.
“I thought that we played solid in doubles today, they had three good teams out there and they were close in the beginning we just got the break that we wanted,” he said. “We have so much more confidence heading into singles when we can play doubles like that.”
The Bombers travel to Hartwick College for their final match of the regular season on Tuesday before the Empire 8 playoffs begin next weekend.
