Box Score (PDF)
 
ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's tennis team returned to its home courts at Glazer Arena on Thursday evening when it welcomed Liberty League foe Hobart College to South Hill. The Statesmen snapped Ithaca's two-match winning streak, besting the Bombers in seven-of-nine flights in the 7-2 victory.
 
Ithaca won one flight in each of the doubles and singles portion of the competition. Freshman Minos Stavrakas and sophomore Michael Gardiner picked up Ithaca's doubles win in the top-flight, while senior Wes Davis won his fourth-flight singles bout.
 
Hobart College 7 – Ithaca College 2
Doubles
1. Minos Stavrakas/Michael Gardiner (ITHACA) def. Mike Rusk/Jonah Salita (HOBART) 8-5
2. Alan Dubrovsky/Danny Kot (HOBART) def. Lorenzo Viguie-Ramos/Wes Davis (ITHACA) 8-7 (6-0)
3. Harry Nichols/Jonathan Atwater (HOBART) def. Nathan Wolf/Colten Lavery (ITHACA) 8-5
 
Singles
1. Jonathan Atwater (HOBART) def. Minos Stavrakas (ITHACA) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
2. Jonah Salita (HOBART) def. Michael Gardiner (ITHACA) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
3. Alan Dubrovsky (HOBART) def. Colten Lavery (ITHACA) 7-5, 7-6 (3-0)
4. Wes Davis (ITHACA) def. Harry Nichols (HOBART) 6-4, 6-4
5. Joe Mallon (HOBART) def. Nathan Wolf (ITHACA) 3-6, 7-6 (3-0), 10-6
6. Danny Kot (HOBART) def. Lorenzo Viguie-Ramos (ITHACA) 7-5, 6-1
 
The match started favorably for the Bombers, as Stavrakas and Gardiner scored the first point of the match with an 8-5 victory over Hobart's Mike Rusk and Jonah Salita in the top flight. However, the Statesmen quickly responded with an 8-5 victory of their own, as Harry Nichols and Jonathan Atwater bested Ithaca's Nathan Wolf and Colten Lavery in the third flight.
 
The rubber-match in the second flight looked to be pivotal for the winning side. Both middle pairings duked it out in a tight match that took a tiebreaker to decide a winner. Unfortunately for IC, Hobart's Alan Dubrovsky and Danny Kot were able to pick up the clutch points in narrowly edging Ithaca's Lorenzo Viguie-Ramos and Wes Davis, giving the visitors a 2-1 lead heading into singles play.
 
The Bombers seemed poised to make a run during the singles portion of play. Stavrakas took the opening set of his first-flight match-up against Hobart's Atwater, while Davis also won his opening set. Although Davis was able to secure IC's second team point with a 6-4, 6-4 straight-sets win over Nichols, both Stavrakas and Gardiner came up just short in hard-fought three-set battles in the top two flights.
 
Dubrovsky clinched the match for the visitors with a tight 7-5, 7-6 victory over IC's Colten Lavery. The Bombers looked to salvage a final point in the fifth-flight, which was the last one to finish up action on the evening, but Hobart's Joe Mallon was able to outlast Wolf in a 10-6 third-set super breaker.
 
The loss drops Ithaca's record to 4-3 heading into the conference opener against Elmira. The match with the Soaring Eagles is slated for noon on Saturday, April 1, at the Murray Athletic Center Tennis Dome in Pine Valley, N.Y.