Box Score (PDF)
ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's tennis team kicked off a four-match homestand to conclude the regular season on Saturday afternoon when Bard College traveled to South Hill for the Bombers Liberty League finale. The Bombers controlled matters from the outset to earn their first 9-0 sweep of the season in the victory over the Raptors. The win improved IC's record to 5-3 in its inaugural Liberty League season, while the team will be no lower than the fourth seed at next month's Liberty League Tournament.
Sunny skies and relatively mild temperatures allowed the Bombers to get outside to their home outdoor courts at the Wheeler Tennis Complex for the first time this season. Ithaca certainly seemed to gain a jolt from finally being able to play in somewhat seasonal conditions, racing past Bard early in IC's most dominant match of the spring. Ithaca conceded just 11 total games between doubles and singles to blow past the Raptors.
The tone was set during the doubles session, as IC swept all three tandems bouts for the first time on the year. Senior
Lorenzo Viguie-Ramos and junior
Sam McGrath got things started at second-doubles, posting an 8-0 shutout over Bard's Nicholas George and Immanuel Zion. The next domino to fall came at third-doubles, as sophomore
Liam Spiegel and junior
Garrett Boleslav pulled away from Zayd Normand and Elias Ryu for the 8-1 win to double IC's lead.
The closest match of the doubles session came at the top, but even then IC's sophomore tandem of
Minos Stavrakas and
Colten Lavery continued their strong run of performances in League play. They conceded just two games to the Raptors' grouping of Satchel Fisher and Aiden Velasco.
Four straight-set sweeps highlighted the singles session, as the Bombers sealed the match quickly needing just two additional team points. Freshman
George Lomas scored his first career victory at IC to leadoff the Bombers singles dominance. He bested Elias Ryu 6-0, 6-0 at sixth-singles. It was Viguie-Ramos who clinched the match, as he bumped up to the fifth slot. Like Lomas, he continued IC's surge with a 6-0, 6-0 triumph over Zayd Normand.
The second-singles and third-singles matchups also witnessed clean sweeps. Sophomore
Max Prestwich posted a clinical performance in a 6-0, 6-0 win over Nicholas George at the third spot, while McGrath followed shortly thereafter with his own 6-0, 6-0 sweep of Aiden Velasco at second-singles.
The lone matchups in which the Raptors were able to earn games were at fourth-singles and first-singles. Sophomore
Sam Fried improved his record to 5-6 on the year and 1-0 at the fourth slot when he bested Immanuel Zion 6-1, 6-1. The closest battle of the day rounded out the action at the Wheeler Courts with Stavrakas taking on Fisher in the top matchup. Stavrakas scored a couple breaks in winning the opening set 6-2. Although Fisher grew into the match, he was unable to contend with Stavrakas' skill down the stretch, as the IC sophomore took the second set by a 6-4 margin. The win was his 12
th singles triumph of the campaign, while the Greek International improved to 7-1 in Liberty League play.
Ithaca returns to action on Tuesday, April 24, when it continues the homestand against Hamilton College. Start time is 4:30 p.m.
