The Bison men’s tennis team entered their Patriot League matchup with Colgate on April 1 with a 2-1 Patriot League record. Despite a strong start on the doubles court, the Raiders ultimately claimed the coveted win to move to an undefeated 3-0 League record. The Bison moved to 2-2 in the League and 5-17 overall.

The day’s rivalry was especially pronounced in the match-up of former All-Patriot League First Team picks Daniel Wright ’18 and Colgate’s Jacob Daugherty. In their third and final meeting of collegiate tennis, Wright nabbed his first win over Daugherty with 7-5 and 6-0 wins in straight sets.

The Bison started the day with a commanding presence, leading 1-0 after doubles play. The team of Wright and Ben Gerber ’18 earned a 6-3 victory on court one. Andrei Vitiuc ’19 and Timber Erskine ’18 picked up a 6-1 win on court three, despite Vitiuc suffering an injury during the match that would bench him for the singles competition later in the day.

The day’s momentum finally rolled to a halt in the Raiders-dominated singles portion. Colgate picked up wins in all five of the day’s completed matches, only needing two sets to win on courts one and five. Max McDonald ’19, Colin Sacco ’20, and Gerber managed to push their matches to three sets, but fell in the day’s final play.

“Our doubles have been outstanding, but it hasn’t carried over to our singles play as of yet,” head coach Bruce Myers said. “We have to learn how to play the big points much better. They wanted it more than we did.”

Despite the loss on the score sheet, the match against Colgate did include an off-court victory for the team, as Wright was named Patriot League Player of the week for his performance.

The Bison will next face St. Francis Brooklyn on April 7 at the USTA National Tennis Center for a non-conference matchup.