Box Score (PDF)
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's tennis team began its traditional season on Sunday afternoon when it traveled to Rochester, N.Y., for its first dual of the season at the University of Rochester. The Bombers put up a solid fight against the perennially strong Yellowjackets, but the home side was too much on this day in winning eight-of-nine flights.
The highlight of the day was the play of freshman sensation
Minos Stavrakas who won the Bombers lone flight of the contest. He defeated Rochester's top-flight netter, Masaru Fujimaki, in a three-set thriller. Stavrakas took the opening set in a hard-fought 7-6 battle, earning the break to take the early advantage.
The Yellojackets top man fired back with a 7-5 win the second set to force a decisive third-set super breaker. The game went 15 points with Stavrakas earning the victory 10-5.
The home side took a commanding lead into the singles session by winning all three doubles flights. Sahaj Somani and Tanmay Thakkar bested Ithaca's third-flight tandem of Nathan Wolf and
Max Prestwich 8-3. IC's middle duo of
Wes Davis and
Lorenzo Viguie-Ramos won four games, but Rochester's Andrew Nunno and Sam Leeman pulled away down the back stretch for the 8-4 win. The tightest doubles battle came in the top flight as Stavrakas combined with
Michael Gardiner to give Aaron Mevorach and Masaru Fujimaki all they could handle. Unfortunately, the Yellowjackets duo was able to hold off the Bombers in an 8-7 decision.
Rochester swept the second-through-sixth flights to pull away in the match. Mevorach defeated Ithaca's
Colten Lavery 6-2, 6-2 to stretch the home side's lead to 4-0 in the match. The Yellowjackets clinched the contest in second-flight singles when Nunno downed IC's Davis 6-1, 6-3.
Gardiner and Wolf both took five games in their respective singles matchups, but ultimately both fell in 6-3, 6-2 decisions at third- and fifth-flight singles, respectively.
Ithaca returns to action on Saturday, February 25, when it makes its home debut against St. Lawrence University. The match is scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m.
