Score: Elmira College 6, Utica College 3
Records: Elmira (2-7, 2-0 E8), Utica (1-5, 0-3 E8)
Location: Todd and Jen Hutton Dome – Utica, N.Y.
 
UTICA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College men's tennis team continued its surging play on Saturday afternoon by earning a 6-3 road victory against Utica College and improve to 2-0 within the Empire 8 Conference.
 
Elmira opened today's league bout by securing two crucial doubles points with wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions. Stephen Gervase '20 and Zackarie Stedge '21 edged Utica's LJ Nuzzo and Austin McGrain by a single break of serve, 8-5, at the top spot. The Pioneers claimed the point at No. 2, but EC's Ravi Chauma '21 and Curtis Harris '22 came up clutch in a tiebreaker, 8-7 (7-4), to secure the win.
                              
Singles action was tightly contested, but Elmira's momentum from the doubles portion helped the Soaring Eagles collect wins in four of the six matches.
 
Gervase stood toe-to-toe with Utica's Nuzzo at No. 1, but eventually outlasted his counterpart by winning by single breaks of serve in both sets, 6-3, 6-4. With the win, Gervase improved to 3-1 in his last four singles matches.
 
After winning a critical point in doubles, Harris found himself in a tight battle at the No. 3 singles position. Harris opened the match by winning the first set against Paul Litvak, 6-3, but Litvak rallied in the second set and eked it out in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (7-5). However, the second set looked more like a fluke the later the match progressed, as Harris rolled in the third set, 6-1, to solidify an impressive 6-3, 6-7 (7-5), 6-1 win.
 
Jordan Curtis '19 earned a redemption win in singles action, a victory that came in straight sets for the Elmira senior. Curtis downed Utica's Ethan Trembley, who bested Curtis in doubles earlier, in a close first set, 7-6 (7-2), before breezing to a 6-1 second-set win.
 
Elmira's final singles point of the day was recorded by second-year netter Frank Endieveri III '21 at the No. 6 position. Endieveri won 12-of-14 games played en route to a 6-2, 6-0 victory.
 
Although Stedge and Chauma did not win their singles matches, the two second-year talents put forth solid efforts on the court. Stedge fell 6-3, 6-2 at No. 2, while Chauma came up just short in a nail-biting three-set battle at the fifth spot, 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-8).
 
In His Own Words…
Head Coach Rob Clayton reflects on today's E8 win…
"The energy we started with in doubles carried over to singles. There were lots of close matches and sets that broke our way today. I'm very happy with this result."
 
News and Notes

• Elmira boasts a perfect Empire 8 Conference record at 2-0.
• Elmira has won two consecutive matches, both against E8 opponents.
• The Soaring Eagles improved to 25-6 all-time against the Pioneers.
• Harris secured his team-leading fifth singles win of the season.
• Harris is riding high on a five-match singles winning streak.
• Harris is 4-0 at third singles.
• Curtis and Endieveri extended their winning streak in singles to three matches.
• Endieveri won the match-deciding point this afternoon.
• Chauma and Harris improved to 3-1 in doubles action this season.

 
Up Next
The Elmira men return to action this Friday, April 12, when they host Alfred University in a 4:00 p.m. Empire 8 matchup at the Murray Athletic Center, located in Pine Valley, New York.