Dickinson Box (PDF) | Bentley Box (PDF)
 
ORLANDO, Fla. – The Ithaca College men's tennis team kicked off its busy five-match Spring Break swing to the Sunshine State on Monday when it faced Dickinson and NCAA Division II foe Bentley in a pair of duals in Orlando, Florida. The Bombers secured their first victory of the year in the opening match of the day, slipping past Dickinson in a 5-4 decision, before falling to Bentley by a 5-2 margin in the second match of the doubleheader. The split brings Ithaca's record to 1-3 on the young season.
 
Ithaca 5 – Dickinson 4
Doubles
1. Minos Stavrakas/Colten Lavery (ITHACA) def. Derek Chen/Justin Pace (DICKINSON) | 8-1
2. Leonid Sorkin/Sam Coan (DICKINSON) def. Sam McGrath/Max Prestwich (ITHACA) | 8-6
3. Joey Bolanos/Andrew Lai (DICKINSON) def. Liam Spiegel/Sam Fried (ITHACA) | 9-7
 
Singles
1. Minos Stavrakas (ITHACA) def. Leonid Sorkin (DICKINSON) | 7-5, 6-4
2. Sam McGrath (ITHACA) def. Justin Pace (DICKINSON) | 6-2, 6-3
3. Sam Coan (DICKINSON) def. Colten Lavery (ITHACA) | 7-6 (7-4), 6-1
4. Joey Bolanos (DICKINSON) def. Sam Fried (ITHACA) | 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 10-5
5. Liam Spiegel (ITHACA) def. Derek Chen (DICKINSON) | 6-2, 7-6 (7-4)
6. Max Prestwich (ITHACA) def. Bryce Perritt (DICKINSON) | 6-3, 6-2
 
The Bombers opened the day with an excellent result in a hard-fought battle against the Red Devils to secure their first triumph of the season. It was the singles session that proved to the difference, as IC overcame an early deficit with victories in the final two match-ups to conclude the day to help earn the 5-4 come-from-behind win.
 
Once-again the doubles session proved to be a bugaboo for the Bombers, as Dickinson took 2-of-3 matchups to take the early 2-1 lead. Although juniors Minos Stavrakas and Colten Lavery got the day started with a commanding 8-1 win over Derek Chen and Justin Pace, the result was cancelled out with defeats at second and third doubles.
 
Ithaca began its comeback with a strong start to the singles session. Senior Sam McGrath got the ball rolling for IC with his best outing of the year in easily surging past Dickinson's Pace in straight sets 6-2, 6-3. Junior Max Prestwich continued to find success in the sixth slot, also winning in commanding 6-3, 6-2 fashion against Bryce Perritt. The two results pushed IC back into the lead at 3-2.
 
Dickinson punched back in the next two matchups to conclude, scoring closely-contested victories at third-singles and fourth-singles. Sam Coan narrowly edged Lavery in the opening set of the third-singles matchup, winning 7-4 in a tiebreaker to earn the decisive point. IC's junior was unable to swing back the momentum, as Coan broke serve a couple times in pulling away for a 6-1 win in the second set. The fourth-singles matchup between Dickinson's Joey Bolanos and Ithaca's Sam Fried went the distance. Again Dickinson's man would get the early leg-up with a tiebreaker win in the opening set by an 8-6 margin. Fried bounced back for a 3-6 result in the second set to force a third, which Bolanos took 10-5 in a super-breaker.
 
With its backs against the wall, Ithaca pulled off the comeback with poise and tenacity, scoring victories in the first-singles and fifth-singles matches. Stavrakas won a hard-fought straight-sets battle against Leonid Sorkin by a 7-5, 6-4 margin. Junior Liam Spiegel clinched the match for the Bombers with a 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) triumph over Dickinson's Chen to cap the day.
 
Bentley 5 – Ithaca 2
Doubles
1. Minos Stavrakas/Colten Lavery (ITHACA) def. Connor Aulson/Dylan Granat (BENTLEY) | 7-5
2. Sam McGrath/Max Prestwich (ITHACA) def. Michael Fuca/Brett Gilman (BENTLEY) | 6-4
3. Nicholas Hatcher/Kendall Au (BENTLEY) def. Liam Spiegel/Sam Fried (ITHACA) | 6-2
 
Singles
1. Minos Stavrakas (ITHACA) def. Dylan Granat (BENTLEY) | 6-4, 6-3
2. Daniel Weitz (BENTLEY) def. Sam McGrath (ITHACA) | 6-1, 6-1
3. Michael Fuca (BENTLEY) def. Colten Lavery (ITHACA) | 6-3, 6-4
4. Mauricio Fadul Rubod (BENTLEY) def. Sam Fried (ITHACA) | 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 10-4
5. Alexander Novins (BENTLEY) def. Liam Spiegel (ITHACA) | 6-4, 6-4
6. Jose Vera Dalla Valle (BENTLEY) def. Max Prestwich (ITHACA) | 5-7, 6-4, 10-1
 
Looking to continue its momentum into the afternoon, Ithaca had a tough task in a cross-divisional matchup against Division II Bentley. Although the Bombers put up a strong fight, Bentley ultimately proved to be too much in pulling out a 5-2 decision. Both sides finished out the final two matches even with the match already clinched with the two sides splitting results.
 
Minos Stavrakas had the highlight in the singles session, scoring a 6-4, 6-3 triumph in the top-slot battle against Bentley's Dylan Granat. It would be the only matchup the Bombers would take in singles, as Bentley swept the second-through-six matchups to clinch the win.
 
The doubles session was a positive for the Bombers, as IC's top two tandems scored wins on the day. Stavrakas and Lavery combined for a triumph over Bentley's Connor Aulson and Dylan Granat at first-doubles, while McGrath and Prestwich joined up for a win over Michael Fuca and Brett Gilman in the second-doubles battle.
 
Ithaca returns to action tomorrow when it faced Franklin & Marshall.