BEVERLY, Mass. — The No. 32 Bates College men's tennis team opened NESCAC play Saturday afternoon with a 7-0 loss to No. 5 Tufts University at Bass River Tennis Club.
The Bobcats (2-4, 0-1 NESCAC) were competitive throughout doubles play, highlighted by a victory at the No. 3 position.
Nicolas Ozer and
James Sacco edged Tufts' Nico Tremblay and Eren Cheung, 7-6, to secure Bates' lone doubles triumph of the afternoon.
Tufts (4-0, 1-0 NESCAC) claimed the remaining two doubles contests to take the early lead. At No. 1 doubles, Sacha Maes and Alex Ganchev outlasted
Phillippe Kosyagin and
Theo Sardain, 7-6, while the Jumbos' Kaetan Mehta and Javier Gonzalez earned a 7-5 decision over
Josh Maller and
Eric Diop at the No. 2 spot.
In singles play, Tufts swept all six matches in straight sets to secure the team victory. Javier Gonzalez led the way at No. 1 singles with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Kosyagin, while Ganchev followed with a 6-2, 7-5 victory against Diop at the No. 2 position.
Maes defeated
Tylan Ozkuzey 6-1, 6-1 at No. 3 singles, Cheung topped
Rocco Regnier 6-2, 6-0 at No. 4, S. Mastrogamvrakis bested Maller 6-3, 6-1 at No. 5, and Takehiro Shuda closed out the afternoon with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Ozer at No. 6 singles.
Bates will look to bounce back as it continues NESCAC play Sunday at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. First serve is slated for 2:00 p.m.
