Box Score (PDF)
 
ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's tennis team finally got to play at its home venue for the first time this season on Sunday afternoon when the team took on No. 26 Skidmore in a battle of Liberty League unbeaten. Unfortunately, IC was unable to defend its home court against the perennially strong and nationally-ranked Thoroughbreds, falling in an 8-1 final that was much closer than the team score would indicate. The loss drops Ithaca to 2-5 on the season, while the Bombers fall to 2-1 in Liberty League action.
 
The highlight of the day for Ithaca came in the first-singles matchup, as the Bombers' sophomore standout Minos Stavrakas outlasted the nation's 25^th-ranked singles player in Steven Koulouris in a thrilling three-set match 7-5, 3-6, 6-3. The triumph was Stavrakas' best singles win of his still young collegiate career.
 
While the Bombers were only able to secure one team point with Stavrakas' big victory at first-singles, the team competed quite well against the Liberty League leading Thoroughbreds. Junior second-singles player Sam McGrath went toe-to-toe against the nation's 10^th-ranked singles player in JT Wynne, sending the first set to a tiebreak and hanging tough in the second frame, before a late service break capped the match. Sophomores Max Prestwich and Colten Lavery also competed well in the fourth- and third-flights of singles, while the Bombers were right in the match in the Top-2 doubles matchups as well.
 
Doubles
1. #4 Steven Koulouris/JT Wynne (SKIDMORE) def. Sam McGrath/Lorenzo Viguie-Ramos (ITHACA) | 8-5
2. Lucas Pickering/Travis Leaf (SKIDMORE) def. Minos Stavrakas/Colten Lavery (ITHACA) | 8-6
3. Jack McClaren/Jason Keye (SKIDMORE) def. Max Prestwich/Liam Spiegel (ITHACA) | 8-2
Singles
1. Minos Stavrakas (ITHACA) def. #25 Steven Koulouris (SKIDMORE) | 7-5, 3-6, 6-3
2. #10 JT Wynne (SKIDMORE) def. Sam McGrath (ITHACA) | 7-6 (7-2), 6-4
3. Travis Leaf (SKIDMORE) def. Colten Lavery (ITHACA) | 6-1, 6-3
4. Ted Berkowitz (SKIDMORE) def. Max Prestwich (ITHACA) | 6-1, 6-4
5. Suraj Mahtani (SKIDMORE) def. Liam Spiegel (ITHACA) | 6-0, 6-2
6.
 
Ithaca set the tone for the competitive afternoon with an excellent performance in doubles, which would have likely been a strong enough effort to win on most days. Unfortunately, Skidmore showcased its depth and quality to just barely edge past IC in each of the three matchups to take a big 3-0 lead into the singles session.
 
The Thoroughbreds got on the board early with an 8-2 triumph in third-doubles. Sophomores Max Prestwich and Liam Spiegel battled hard, but were unable to find the gaps between Skidmore's third grouping of Jack McClaren and Jason Keye.
 
The other two matchups were very close. On court one, McGrath teamed with senior Lorenzo Viguie-Ramos to give the nation's fourth-ranked doubles grouping of Steven Koulouris and JT Wynne all they could handle. Through nine games, IC's duo trailed just 5-4; however, Koulouris and Wynne were able to gain some breathing room with a late break of serve in the 8-5 decision. The win upped Skidmore's early lead to 2-0.
 
The Bombers hoped to snatch back momentum with a win at the middle pair and for a while the home team looked poised to do just that. Stavrakas and Lavery took a lead in their matchup against Lucas Pickering and Travis Leaf with a marathon win that included a long battle through several deuce and advantage situations, pulling ahead 6-5. Unfortunately, things slipped away late with the Thoroughbreds' tandem dealing IC a crushing blow with wins in three straight games to clinch the sweep of the doubles session.
 
Despite the deep hole, Ithaca continued to hold its own and attempted to battle back in the match. Stavrakas scored a late break of Koulouris on serve and held his own serve to win the opening set of his top-flight match. Meanwhile on court two, McGrath went head-to-head with the nation's 10^th-ranked singles player in JT Wynne in a tense opening set that eventually went to a tiebreak.
 
Skidmore would clinch the match before either of the top matches reached their conclusion. Although Lavery and Prestwich would rebound after slow starts to their third- and fourth-singles bouts, the comeback was just out of reach. Lavery dropped a competitive second set by a 6-3 score, while Prestwich ultimately fell 6-4 in his second frame. The concessions in the third and fourth-flights brought the team score to a 5-0 margin.
 
IC's spirit remained unbroken as Stavrakas and McGrath continued to battle their nationally-ranked opponents. McGrath nearly pulled out the second frame to extend his match to a third set. With the matchup tied at 4-4, Wynne was able to pull out a crucial break of McGrath's serve in yet another game that went to deuce between the two players. He would hold his ensuing serve to take the match 7-6 (7-2), 6-4.
 
Stavrakas ensured the Bombers would not be shutout for the first time this season. Koulouris punched back with an answer to the Greek International's opening set 7-5 triumph with a 6-3 win of his own to send the matchup to a decisive third set. IC's sophomore rose to the challenge to pull out the thrilling win. The two netters traded winners in the first seven games, which resulted in a 4-3 lead for Stavrakas. He was able to score a crucial break and went on to hold serve to win the matchup with a 6-3 win at first-singles.
 
Rounding out the day's action was the fifth-singles and sixth-singles tilts. Spiegel struggled to get things going against Skidmore's scrappy fifth man in Suraj Mahtani, falling 6-0, 6-2. Seeing his first action of the spring, sophomore Sam Fried battled hard in the sixth-singles matchup. Facing Yuqi Wang, he battled back to a force a first-set tiebreak that went an extra-point, before Wang ultimately got the decisive shot for an 8-6 win in the tiebreaker. The second set was also a razor-thin margin with Wang ultimately prevailing 7-5 in a set that again went the distance.
 
The Bombers also performed well in exhibitions on the day. Garrett Boleslav and George Lomas joined up for a tandems win, 9-7, over Juan Carlos de la Casa and Adith Chandavarker. Boleslav added an 8-3 win over Chandavarker in an exhibition singles pro-set, while Lomas bested de la Casa 8-2.
 
Overall, while the end result was not what IC had hoped for, the team can certainly build off the strong performance against one of the nation's top teams. Ithaca returns to action on Thursday, March 29, when it travels to Hobart for another Liberty League match. Start time is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.