The Ithaca College men’s tennis team traveled to Hartwick College for an early week match up. The Bombers came back to the South Hill with a 9–0 sweep over the Hawks. With this win, the Bombers remain undefeated in conference play with an overall record of 9–4 and a conference record of 5–0.
Most of the match ups for the Blue and Gold against the Hawks seemed to come with ease. The Bombers’ doubles flights started off slowly, but soon gained momentum to overcome Hartwick.
First flight doubles team freshman Minos Stavrakas and sophomore Michael Gardiner defeated junior John Talbot and sophomore Krishna Patel 8–3, while second flight doubles team seniors Wes Davis and Nathan Wolf bested freshman Nick Adamou and senior Ross Braue 8–4.
The best score for the Bombers’ doubles came from third flight tandem senior Brandon Buksbaum and sophomore Garrett Boleslav. Buksbaum and Boleslav defeated senior pair Drew Tyrol and Quinn McQuade in a quick 8–0 set.
Strong play for the Bombers didn’t stop at doubles. Singles seemed to be where they found the most ease in defeating the Hawks.
Second through sixth flight singles all defeated their Hartwick opponents in two fast 6–0 sets.
Gardiner faced Patel in the second flight, Davis defeated Adamou in the third flight, Wolf bested Braue in the fourth flight, and in the fifth and sixth flights, Buksbaum defeated Tyrol and Boleslav defeated McQuade.
In first flight singles, Stavrakas faced the Hawk’s Talbot. Talbot put up the biggest fight for the Hawks in singles match ups, but it was not enough. Stavrakas won the match 6–2, 6–1.
The Blue and Gold return to play at 10 a.m. April 22 in Hoboken, New Jersey against Stevens Institute of Technology.
With a three-game win streak, the Bombers look to hold onto their momentum as they face their toughest opponent in the Empire 8 conference, Stevens Institute of Technology. In the 2015–2016 season, Stevens was the only Empire 8 opponent the Bombers fell to, once in conference play and once in the conference championship.
