Ithaca, N.Y. - The Ithaca men's tennis team (2-3) came from behind and defeated St. Lawrence (4-3) by a 5-4 score Saturday afternoon at the Reis Tennis Center. The Bombers trailed 2-1 after the completion of doubles matches but won four of six matches in singles play. Ithaca is ranked 17th in the Northeast Region by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association and St. Lawrence is ranked 14th.

The decisive team point came at sixth singles, and Ithaca rallied to win that match. Freshman David Andersen (Hastings/Hastings-on-Hudson) trailed by one set and 5-2, love-40 in his match, but served off four match points against and extended the match. He ended up winning the second set in a tiebreak and then won the third set by a 6-2 score to give Ithaca a victory.

Ithaca's other singles victories came from senior Josh Rifkin (Homestead/Ft. Wayne, Ind.), sophomore Josh Berggrun (Orange/Moreland Hills, Ohio) and sophomore Kyle Riether (Neshaminy/Langhorne, Pa.). Ithaca's second-doubles team of Berggrun and freshman Blake Wetherbee (Fairview/Boulder, Colo.) earned the other point.

Ithaca will begin conference play by hosting Utica at 1 p.m. April 2.

Tennis Match Results
St. Lawrence vs Ithaca
03/26/11 at Ithaca, N.Y.
(Reis Tennis Center)

Ithaca 5, St. Lawrence 4

Singles competition
1. Josh RIFKIN (IC) def. Tony Wilkey (SLU) 6-7 (6-8), 6-1, 6-2
2. Michael Hayden (SLU) def. Jimmy NEWTON (IC) 6-4, 6-4
3. Josh BERGGRUN (IC) def. Ren Gates (SLU) 6-0, 6-1
4. Will Cook (SLU) def. Griffin REID (IC) 7-5, 6-4
5. Kyle RIETHER (IC) def. Matthew Burke (SLU) 6-4, 6-3
6. David ANDERSEN (IC) def. Tom Timpone (SLU) 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2

Doubles competition
1. Michael Hayden/Tony Wilkey (SLU) def. Jimmy NEWTON/Josh RIFKIN (IC) 8-5
2. Josh BERGGRUN/Blake WETHERBEE (IC) def. Will Cook/Ren Gates (SLU) 8-3
3. Christopher Rogers/Tom Timpone (SLU) def. Les BOWDEN/Kyle RIETHER (IC) 8-3

Team Records:
St. Lawrence 4-3; Regional ranking #14
Ithaca 2-3; Regional ranking #17