The men’s tennis team (7—8 overall, 5—2 Empire 8) avenged a late-season loss by winning two of three doubles matches and sweeping the first three singles matches to earn a 5-1 victory against Nazareth College (9—11 overall, 6—1 Empire 9) in the Empire 8 Conference semifinal today on the Wheeler Tennis Courts.
The Bombers lost a tight match by a score of 5-4 to the Golden Flyers in the season finale April 27. The South Hill squad turned the tide today thanks in large part to its lower seeds. Sophomore David Andersen did not drop a single game in defeating Nazareth sophomore Nick Lord 6-0, 6-0 at fifth singles and senior Dan Levine did his part by defeating Nazareth freshman Zach Morley 6-3, 6-3 at sixth singles.
At first doubles, Andersen and senior Jimmy Newton pulled away from Nazareth juniors Bret Beaver and Ryan McCormick by a score of 8-2. Freshman Justin Levine and sophomore Griffin Reid sealed the match victory for the Blue and Gold by defeating Morley and freshman Matt Jennings 8-1 at third doubles.
The South Hill squad will face top-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology (10—7 overall, 7—0 Empire 8) in Sunday’s Empire 8 Conference final, which starts at 11 a.m. on the Wheeler Tennis Courts. Stevens swept St. John Fisher College 5-0 in the other semifinal match and defeated the Bombers by a score of 7-2 in the teams’ regular season meeting April 15 on the Wheeler Courts.
