The Bison men’s tennis team (12-12) had a busy three-match weekend against Colgate, Boston University, and Lehigh to close out regular season play. The Orange and Blue beat Colgate 4-2 and BU 4-3 in Syracuse, N.Y. on April 12-13, but lost to Lehigh in Williamsport, Pa. by 4-2 on April 14.  

On April 12, the Bison faced Colgate and had their first victory against the Raiders since 2015. Coming off a four-match losing streak to the Raiders, the Bison started out on top in the doubles contest after Cooper Bradshaw ’22 and Ethan Jacobs ’22 won 6-0. The team as a whole went 3-0 in their three doubles matches. The other two doubles contest pair-ups were Max McDonald ’19 and Marwan Abaza ’21 as well as Andrei Vitiuc ’19 and Ryan Jurist ’22. Both of these doubles matches ended in a 6-2 edge over Colgate.

In the start of the singles matches, the Raiders came out strong with two wins, but Abaza straightened the ship with a win of his own, moving his conference singles record to 4-1. To follow his lead, the Bison had two more single match wins by Bradshaw and Jurist.  

On April 13, the Orange and Blue faced another Patriot League opponent, Boston University. The Bison were behind by three before making a tremendous comeback to eventually clinch another League win and their eighth total in 10 games.

Abaza led off the team’s rally with his fifth win in a row in singles. McDonald and Vitiuc followed in Abaza’s footsteps as they each secured a win in their singles contests. Jurist delivered the match-clinching win, beating a tough Terrier opponent, 6-4, 6-7, and 6-3. His overall record improved to 12-8 for the spring, including a 4-2 record in Patriot League matches.

To wrap up League play on April 14, the Bison fell short to Lehigh 4-2 on Senior Day. Seniors McDonald and Vitiuc were celebrated for their contributions to the program before the match. Both McDonald and Vitiuc lost their respective singles matches, but Vitiuc and Jurist won their doubles match 6-1. The loss put the Bison’s regular season record to 5-3 in the Patriot League.

“The team competed really well this weekend and everyone contributed which ultimately led us to beat Colgate and Boston University this past weekend,” said Jacobs. “We are looking forward to going into the Patriot League Tournament this weekend as the No. four seed.”

The Patriot League Tournament begins for the Bison on April 19 in West Point, N.Y. when they take on Boston University at 11 a.m. The Bison look forward to the challenge of the playoffs and hope to beat BU for the second time this week.