Chris Ellis, Ben Rosen and the No. 28 Bates men's tennis team kept postseason hopes alive with a stunning 7-2 victory over No. 4 Bowdoin April 26, 2017 in Merrill Gymnasium. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College)
LEWISTON, Maine -- The No. 28 nationally ranked Bates men's tennis team kept postseason hopes alive with a stunning 7-2 victory over No. 4 Bowdoin Wednesday in Merrill Gymnasium, claiming the first five points to clinch the match early on against the defending NCAA champions.
With one match remaining in the regular season, Saturday at home against Wesleyan, Bates (6-9, 5-3 NESCAC) stays in the mix to be one of the six teams invited to the NESCAC Championship tournament. Bates has its most conference victories since finishing 6-4 in 2013.
Bowdoin (14-3, 5-2 NESCAC) suffered its largest margin of defeat of the season of the season, and only its sixth loss in two years.
Bates got off to an inspired start, winning all three doubles matches by close margins. Junior Ben Rosen (Port Washington, N.Y.) and senior Chris Ellis (Shrewsbury, Mass.) edged Luke Tercek and Grant Urken 9-7 at No. 1 doubles, while senior Pat Ordway (Falmouth, Maine) and junior Adam Schwartz (Los Angeles, Calif.) defeated Kyle Wolfe and Jerry Jiang 8-5 at No. 2, and sophomore Josh Quijano (Los Angeles, Calif.) and junior Josh Leiner (Baltimore, Md.) topped Gil Roddy and Justin Patel 8-6 at third doubles.
Rosen was victorious for the 11th consecutive match at No. 1 singles, quickly dispatching Tercek 6-1, 6-1. Ellis then finished off a 6-2, 6-3 win over Urken at No. 2, putting Bates ahead 5-0 to clinch the upset victory.
Ordway scored a 6-2, 6-4 win over Luke Carstens at No. 5 singles. Wolfe, Bowdoin's captain, won the first set from Quijano at No. 3 singles, and the players were tied at 5-5 in the second set when Wolfe retired, ceding the point to Bates.
Bowdoin won hard-earned victories at No. 4 singles, where Roddy edged Schwartz 7-5, 6-3, and at No. 6 singles, where Patel defeated first-year Jacob Kauppila (Chesterfield, Mo.) 6-4, 6-3.
