Score: Nazareth College 5, Elmira College 4
Records: Elmira (7-6, 1-1 E8), Nazareth (2-7, 1-0 E8)
Location: Mendon Tennis & Pool Club – Pittsford, NY
Pittsford, NY -- The Elmira College men's tennis team dropped a hard fought match this evening to Empire 8 foe Nazareth College, 5-4. With the loss, Elmira falls to 7-6 on the year and 1-1 in conference play.
Elmira dug itself an early hole, as the Soaring Eagles were unable to claim a doubles victory. Trailing 3-0, EC knew it was going to need a handful of special performances to get back into today's match.
The Elmira men began their rally behind
Patrick Tracey '18, who has been one of the team's most consistent performers in singles in 2016. Tracey rolled in straight sets at fourth singles, earning a 6-3, 6-1 win, cutting the Nazareth lead to 3-1. Shortly after,
Austin Mansell '16 pulled the Soaring Eagles to within one with a 6-4, 6-2 victory at the third spot.
Nazareth's Lamar Hurt put the Golden Flyers within one singles victory of winning the match with a straight set triumph at the fifth position.
Satchal Waters '16 pulled out a close match at second singles, winning each set by a single break at 6-4, 6-4, bringing the match score to 4-3. The Elmira comeback continued with
Yaniv Kogan '18, who was a straight set winner at sixth singles 6-4, 6-2.
Kogan's win leveled the match at 4-4, putting all eyes on
Yu Ikeda '16 and Nazareth's Tyler Williams at first singles. The two found themselves in a dogfight, as they traded the first two sets; Ikeda took the first, 7-5, while Williams claimed the second, 6-4.
Just like previous two sets, the third one was also tightly contested with just one break of serve determining the outcome of the match. Williams rode the momentum from the second set in the third for a 6-3 victory, handing Nazareth its first conference win of the year.
Scores
Singles
1. Tyler Williams (NAZ) def.
Yu Ikeda (ELMIRA) 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
2.
Satchal Waters (ELMIRA) def. Scott Trobert (NAZ) 6-4, 6-4
3.
Austin Mansell (ELMIRA) def. Louis Rogers (NAZ) 6-4, 6-2
4.
Patrick Tracey (ELMIRA) def. Christian Bryant (NAZ) 6-3, 6-1
5. Lamar Hurt (NAZ) def.
Chris Konow (ELMIRA), 6-1, 6-3
6.
Yaniv Kogan (ELMIRA) def. Jared Sharza (NAZ) 6-4, 6-2
Doubles
1. Williams/Hurt (NAZ) def. Waters/Tracey (ELMIRA) 8-3
2. Rogers/Bryant (NAZ) def. Mansell/Konow (ELMIRA) 8-6
3. Trobert/Amond (NAZ) def. Ikeda/Kogan (ELMIRA) 8-4
News and Notes
- Elmira falls to 0-4 in road matches this season.
- EC suffers its first loss in conference play.
- Tracey picked up his 10th singles victory of the year, tying him for the EC single-season record.
- Mansell's singles win brought his career win total 60, making him the second player in EC history to win 60 matches.
- Tracey and Mansell have won five consecutive singles matches.
Up Next
Elmira returns to action next Saturday, April 9th, when the Soaring Eagles welcome 23rd-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology to the MAC for an E8 showdown at 10:00 a.m.
