CLINTON, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's tennis team kicked off its final week of non-league action heading into next week's Liberty League Tournament on Tuesday afternoon when the Bombers hit the road to face NESCAC foe Hamilton. The had several competitive battles throughout the day, but ultimately came up short in a 7-2 decision. The loss drops IC's record to 5-11 on the year.
 
Doubles
1. Sam Farber/Rob Dotterer (HAMILTON) def. Minos Stavrakas/Colten Lavery (ITHACA) | 8-7 (7-3)
2. Michael Gardiner/Max Prestwich (ITHACA) def. Max Zimmerman/Danny Tsyvin (HAMILTON) | 8-6
3. Lars Scannell/Joe Reiner (HAMILTON) def. Sam McGrath/Liam Spiegel (ITHACA) | 8-1
 
Singles
1. Max Zimmerman (HAMILTON) def. Minos Stavrakas (ITHACA) | 6-2, 2-6, 6-2
2. Sam Farber (HAMILTON) def. Sam McGrath (ITHACA) | 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5)
3. Rob Dotterer (HAMILTON) def. Michael Gardiner (ITHACA) | 6-1, 6-3
4. Colten Lavery (ITHACA) def. Tim Derby (HAMILTON) | 7-5, 6-2
5. Joe Reiner (HAMILTON) def. Max Prestwich (ITHACA) | 6-4, 6-4
6. Danny Tsyvin (HAMILTON) def. Garrett Boleslav (ITHACA) | 6-3, 6-3
 
The Bombers put together a strong performance in the doubles session, giving Hamilton everything it could handle in a fiercely competed battle to begin the day. Although IC dropped the third-doubles matchup fairly convincingly, the squad rallied with a strong finish to the session in the first and second slot matchups.
 
Senior Michael Gardiner and junior Max Prestwich evened the team score at 1-1 with a spirited victory over Hamilton's Max Zimmerman and Danny Tsyvin. The IC duo snagged a big break to gain some separation and held off the Continentals with the clinching game on serve in an 8-6 victory. The win set things up for a momentum swinging battle in the first-doubles matchup. That contest would be the most entertaining battle of the session. IC juniors Minos Stavrakas and Colten Lavery went neck-and-neck against the Continentals' top pairing of Sam Farber and Rob Dotterer. With nothing separating the two sides through 14 games in the pro-set, matters would go to a breaker, which the hosts went on to claim by a 7-3 margin. The win sent the hosts into the singles session with a 2-1 lead.
 
The Bombers never were able to recover the momentum following that defeat, although they did put up a strong fight in all six of the singles matchups. Sadly, only one of those matchups would go Ithaca's way as the Continentals were able to pull away late.
 
Stavrakas nearly pulled off a thrilling comeback in his first-singles matchup against Hamilton's Max Zimmerman. After a bit of a slow start, the IC junior put together an exhilarating 6-2 win in the second set to force a decisive third. Unfortunately, the comeback bid ran out of steam in the third, as Zimmerman rallied for a 6-2 win to push Ithaca to the brink at 4-1.
 
Lavery was able to hold off the Continentals with a big 7-5, 6-2 win in his fourth-singles matchup against Tim Derby, but Hamilton was able to win the final three matches to conclude on the evening.
 
Senior Sam McGrath had the closest battle of the final trio, taking things to three sets against Hamilton's Sam Farber. McGrath had the early leg-up in a 7-5 opening set win, before Farber responded with a 6-1 win in the second to force the matchup the full distance. The third was contested on a razor-thin margin as well with Farber edging McGrath 7-5 in a tiebreaker.
 
Hamilton capped the day with Joe Reiner besting Prestwich in consecutive 6-4, 6-4 sets, while the host's Danny Tsyvin ousted IC senior Garrett Boleslav in straight-sets 6-3, 6-3.
 
Ithaca returns to the courts on Saturday, April 27, when the Bombers hit the road to face another NESCAC foe in Trinity (Conn.). Match start time is 2:00 p.m.