Box Score MIDDLEBURY, Vt. -- The Bates men's tennis team made its 2024-25 debut this weekend with an appearance in the two-day Middlebury College Invitational.

After dropping his round of 16 match in the singles "A" Flight, sophomore Alex Park (Dallas, Texas) enjoyed success in the "back draw" with a  6-4, 3-6, 10-3 win over Fletcher King (Skidmore). 
 
First-year Eric Diop (Roslindale, Mass.) picked up a win in his debut as a Bobcat, defeating Marco Ziets-Segura (Colby)  by a count of 7-6, 4-6, 10-5 in the "B" Flight opening round.

James Sacco (Bridgewaters, N.Y.) also secured a victory in his collegiate debut for Bates, besting Ben Kotzen (Brandeis) with a comeback win of 6-7(5), 6-2, 10-7 in the "C" Flight first round. 

Senior Eli Criss (Winchester, Mass.), playing in the "C" flight back draw, dropped Kevin Mortimer (Colby) in a straight-set showing of 6-4, 7-6(3). Teammate Tylan Ozkuzey (Montclair, N.J.) also grabbed a back draw win as the first-year breezed past Julian Cangieter-Hernandez (Colby) in straight sets, 6-2, 6-0.

Diop and Ozkuzey did some damage as a tandem as the first-year pairing earned two victories in the "B" Doubles "back draw". The Bobcat duo first defeated Colby's Sriram Das and Mortimer, 8-5, before knocking off Sidney Huet and Noah Lewis of Middlebury, 8-6.

The Bobcats are back in action Sept. 27 - 29 at the ITA New England Championships, hosted by Tufts.