ORLANDO, Fla. – The Ithaca College men's tennis team back on the courts at the United States Tennis Association (USTA) National Campus in Orlando, Fla., as the Bombers took on Division II Bloomsburg in the final match of their spring break trip. Although IC battled hard against the cross-divisional foe, the Huskies proved too much for the Bombers, sending Ithaca to its third straight defeat on the campaign.
 
Hoping to shake the slow start that plagued Ithaca in its defeat at the hands of Franklin & Marshall yesterday, the Bombers accomplished their initial goal. IC emerged out of the doubles session leading 2-1. However, the Bombers were unable to keep the momentum going in the singles session. The Huskies won 5-of-6 one-on-one matchups to complete the comeback in the 6-3 final.
 
Headlining the day for IC in doubles was the top two groupings, who both carded victories. The all-sophomore tandem of Minos Stavrakas and Colten Lavery got things started for IC with an 8-4 triumph over Lucas Pedrotti and Nagid Walle in first-doubles. Shortly after, another all-second-year grouping in Max Prestwich and Liam Spiegel doubled IC's advantage with an 8-3 victory over Bernardo Abreu and Rafael Rufato in second-doubles. The lone grouping to not score win on Thursday was third-doubles, as juniors Sam McGrath and Garrett Boleslav were unable to spark a comeback to earn IC a clean sweep in the doubles session. The junior duo fell to Guillermo Carranza and Robin Luetzig of Bloomsburg by an 8-4 margin.
 
Sadly, Ithaca's momentum was not shifted to the singles session. Bloomsburg controlled matters handily in four of the six matchups, while the Huskies won 5-of-6, overall. Ithaca's lone win in the second session came in second-singles, as McGrath defeated Abreu in three sets. IC's junior took the opening set 6-4, before taking a 10-6 super-breaker in the third set.
 
Ithaca's other close match came in the third-singles matchup between Lavery and Bloomsburg's Nagid Walle. Both sets came down to the wire, but ultimately, Walle was able to score the decisive break that proved the difference. Lavery fell in 6-4, 6-4 straight-sets.
 
The following are the final results from Thursday.
 
Doubles
1. Minos Stavrakas/Colten Lavery (ITHACA) def. Lucas Pedrotti/Nagid Walle (BLOOMSBURG) | 8-4
2. Liam Spiegel/Max Prestwich (ITHACA) def. Bernardo Abreu/Rafael Rufato (BLOOMSBURG) | 8-3
3. Guillermo Carranza/Robin Luetzig (BLOOMSBURG) def. Sam McGrath/Garrett Boleslav (ITHACA) | 8-4
Singles
1. Lucas Pedrotti (BLOOMSBURG) def. Minos Stavrakas (ITHACA) | 6-3, 6-2
2. Sam McGrath (ITHACA) def. Bernardo Abreu (BLOOMSBURG) | 6-4, 3-6, 10-6
3. Nagid Walle (BLOOMSBURG) def. Colten Lavery (ITHACA) | 6-4, 6-4
4. Guillermo Carranza (BLOOMSBURG) def. Max Prestwich (ITHACA) | 6-0, 6-1
5. Benjamin Tauber (BLOOMSBURG) def. Liam Spiegel (ITHACA) | 6-0, 6-1
6. Robin Luetzig (BLOOMSBURG) def. George Lomas (ITHACA) | 6-1, 6-1
 
Ithaca returns to action on Sunday, March 25, when it jumps back into Liberty League action with a home match against Skidmore. Match is slated to begin at 1:00 p.m.