ORLANDO, Fla. – The Ithaca College men's tennis team was back on the courts on Wednesday night looking to get in the win column in the Sunshine State, after dropping its first match of spring break to Stevens on Monday. Unfortunately, Franklin & Marshall proved firm resistance on Wednesday, besting Ithaca by a 6-3 margin to drop IC to 0-2 on its spring break trip and 2-3 on the young season.
 
It was an uphill battle for the Bombers from the get-go, as Franklin & Marshall raced out to a 3-0 lead through the doubles portion of play to begin the night. Two of the matchups went right to the wire, but ultimately the Diplomats prevailed in both the first-doubles and second-doubles bouts to take a commanding early lead in the match.
 
The closest of the three matches came in the top-flight matchup, as sophomores Minos Stavrakas and Colten Lavery went to a tiebreak with the matchup knotted at 8-8 through 16 games. Franklin & Marshall scored the decisive point in a 7-6 battle in the tiebreak. Second doubles also proved to be a close matchup, but second-years Liam Spiegel and Max Prestwich had their bid come up short as well 6-8.
 
Ithaca made a valiant effort to score the monumental comeback during the singles session. Three Bombers carded victories, while they battled closely in two other matchups. However, the Diplomats top-to-bottom depth was too much to contend with so little margin for error trying to overcome the 3-0 deficit. The Diplomats scored three wins in the singles session to seal the 6-3 decision.
 
Stavrakas headlined IC's efforts during singles, scoring a 6-2, 6-4 straight-sets triumph in the first-singles matchup. Lavery added a win in the third-singles bout, winning the first set in a tiebreak 7-6 (7-1), before rolling to a 6-1 victory in the second frame. Prestwich scored the final victory on the evening for IC. Like Lavery, he also took his first set in a tiebreak 7-6 (7-0); however, he would fall in the second set 5-7 to setup a decisive third frame. Prestwich would prevail in the third, winning 10-5 in a super-breaker.
 
The following are results from this evening. Please note that matchups are incomplete and will be updated when applicable information is available.
 
Doubles
1. Minos Stavrakas/Colten Lavery | L, 8-9 (6-7)
2. Liam Spiegel/Max Prestwich | L, 6-8
3. Sam McGrath/Garrett Boleslav | L, 4-8
Singles
1. Minos Stavrakas | W, 6-2, 6-4
2. Sam McGrath | L, 5-7, 6-3, 7-10
3. Colten Lavery | W, 7-6 (7-1), 6-1
4. Max Prestwich | W, 7-6 (7-0), 5-7, 10-5
5. Liam Spiegel | L, 4-6, 3-6
6. George Lomas | L, 6-7 (4-7), 1-6
 
Ithaca returns to action tomorrow afternoon when it faces Bloomsburg in the final match of its spring break trip. Tomorrow's matches are set to be played at the USTA National Campus.