BOX SCORE (PDF)
 
EWING, N.J. – The Ithaca College men's tennis team hit the road on Saturday afternoon looking to build on last weekend's crucial 5-4 victory over Liberty League foe Vassar. Unfortunately, the Bombers non-league woes continued, as Ithaca fell just short in a 5-4 defeat to TCNJ at the Mercer County Tennis Complex in Ewing, N.J. The loss drops Ithaca to 3-7 on the year.
 
The Bombers got off to a strong start to Saturday's action, striking for an early 1-0 lead in the doubles session. The second-doubles tandem of sophomores Minos Stavrakas and Colten Lavery remained red-hot. The reigning Liberty League Doubles Team of the Week posted its third consecutive triumph, rolling TCNJ's second tandem of Mitchel Sanders and Gokol Murugesan in an 8-0 whitewashing.
 
Unfortunately, Ithaca was unable to string that early lead into an advantage coming out of the singles session, as TCNJ took wins in the first and third-doubles matchups. The Lions answered right back to level the match at 1-1 when Tim Gavornik and Omar Bokhari defeated IC's third-tandem of sophomore Liam Spiegel and junior Garrett Boleslav 8-1. The first-doubles battle was very close; however, a break proved to be the difference as junior Sam McGrath and senior Lorenzo Viguie-Ramos fell to TCNJ's Thomas Wright and Matt Puig 8-6.
 
The Lions pushed Ithaca to the brink early in the singles session, scoring wins in the fifth- and sixth-singles bouts to pull ahead 4-1 in the match. Thomas Wright defeated sophomore Sam Fried 6-3, 6-0 in the fifth, whileAchyuth Balijepalle bested Viguie-Ramos 6-1, 6-4 in the sixth-flight.
 
Despite the significant uphill battle, Ithaca showed its resolve to battle back into the match. First, Lavery continued his strong play from doubles into the singles session. He bested Bokhari 6-0, 6-2 in the third-singles matchup. Shortly after the other end of IC's excellent doubles tandem, Stavrakas, continued his own strong play in singles. He took down Mitchel Sanders 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) in a hard-fought first-singles win. The two victories pulled the Bombers within a single point at 4-3.
 
Unfortunately, the comeback bid was stymied in the fourth-singles matchup. Sophomore Max Prestwich hung tough, but Tim Gavornik was able to come up with a few critical shots to hold onto the first set 7-5. With the lead, Gavornik took control in the second frame to win 6-3, clinching the match.
 
McGrath put a solid ending to the match for the Bombers despite suffering the team loss. He rallied from a 3-6 first-set defeat to win 7-5 in the second frame. He went on to take the win over Puig at second-singles, winning the third-set super-breaker 10-5.
 
Ithaca returns to action on Tuesday, April 10, when it welcomes RIT to South Hill for a big Liberty League matchup at 4:00 p.m.