LEWISTON, Maine -- Bates men's tennis wrapped up its regular season with a 4–3 win over MIT Tuesday afternoon at the Wallach Tennis Center, honoring lone senior
Theo Sardain prior to first serve.
The Bobcats, en route to their sixth win of the year, built their advantage early, sweeping all three doubles matches for a 3-0 lead. The nationally ranked No. 25 duo of
Phillippe Kosyagin and Sardain delivered a 6-2 win at No. 1 doubles, extending their winning streak to six matches (eight overall) this season.
Eric Diop and
Josh Maller followed with a 6-4 victory at No. 2, and
Nicolas Ozer and
James Sacco completed the sweep with a 6-1 decision at No. 3.
MIT (12–9) surged back in singles, collecting wins in three of the first four slots. Sardain secured a 6-0, 6-3 victory at No. 3 in his final home match as a Bobcat, while Ozer rallied from a set down for a 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 win at No. 5, as Bates outlasted the Engineers.
"I am so proud of this team for being so resilient all year," said head coach
Paul Gastonguay '89. "This was a difficult test the day after final exams, but the team found a way to compete all the way to the end."
Bates will enter the NESCAC Championship Tournament as the No. 8 seed and face top-seed Tufts in Friday's quarterfinals. First serve is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. at Wesleyan University's John Wood Memorial Tennis Courts.
"We are all looking forward to competing in the NESCAC championships," Gastonguay added. "There's a lot we can build on from today. Tonight we catch up on some rest and get back to work tomorrow."
