The men’s tennis team had a huge weekend as they opened up league play with a series of back-to-back matches. Beginning on April 2, the Orange and Blue began Patriot League play against conference rival Lafayette. The Leopards never stood a chance as the Bison completed a 7-0 shutout, adding a fifth victory to their winning streak.

Doubles partners Octavio Canibe ’15 and Ben Gerber ’18 and Nick Bybel ’16 and Bryan Adams ’17 came out strong and put the Bison in the lead right away. Canibe and Gerber posted an 8-3 victory at No. 3 while Bybel and Adams won at No. 1 with an 8-3 win as well. All four players also won their singles matches, never losing a single set. Bybel came in at No. 1, Adams at No. 3, Canibe at No. 4, and Gerber at No. 6. Joining these four were Daniel Wright ’18 and Maxwell Kane ’18, who won at No. 2 and No. 5, respectively.

Following the shutout against Lafayette, the Bison took on Colgate on April 4. Colgate defeated the Bison 4-3 and ended their five-game winning streak, but the Orange and Blue still put up a good fight. Doubles pairs Canibe/Gerber and Bybel/Adams fought hard to earn wins at No. 3 and No. 1, winning both matches with a score of 8-5. Canibe and Bybel both won their singles matches as well. The Raiders rallied back after the singles wins from Canibe and Bybel to win the match.

The Bison stayed on the road to continue their Patriot League play at Army on April 5. The defending Patriot League champions posed a challenge for the Bison, who were not able to overcome the Black Knights.

Army has yet to lose a Patriot League regular season match since March 22, 2013 (19 straight wins). Despite the loss, the Bison were able to score two points against Army, making themselves one of only two Patriot League teams to earn points against Army this season.

Bybel earned one of the points with a win at No.1 singles, while Adams won at No. 3. The overall score was 5-2.

On April 6, Wright came back for the second-straight close match of the weekend. The team results weighed on Wright’s performance at No. 2 singles, and he came through with a three-set victory, posting a 4-3 team win over visiting Lehigh.

The Bison are now 11-8 overall, 2-2 in the Patriot League. On April 11 the Bison will have their final conference match of the regular season against Loyola.