In a virtual repeat of last weekend’s matches, the men and women’s tennis teams suffered tough losses in each of their first matches of the weekend only to bounce back and take each of their second contests. Both teams endured heartbreaking losses to Patriot League rival Bucknell on Saturday, but they were able to return to winning form on Sunday by beating Fairfield University. Colgate was the home team in all four matches last weekend.

Last Saturday, the women renewed their rivalry with the Bucknell Bison. The Raiders were looking to avenge their 4-3 loss to Bucknell in last year’s Patriot League semifinals. Unfortunately, the women failed to do so, as they were defeated 5-2.

The doubles competition was extremely intense, as the deciding match came down to a tiebreaker. Bucknell’s Tania Varela and Lauren Lucido played a great match to defeat sophomores Samantha Inacker and Elise DeRose 8-4 at number one doubles. The Raiders answered back by taking third doubles, as junior Erin Fenn and first-year Isabel Reimer handed Dara Dwojewski and Caitlin Baffa an 8-6 loss. It all came down to second doubles, where sophomore Cameron Williams and first-year Stephanie Bender took on Paulina Gamboa and Carlin Calcaterra. Williams and Bender got off to an awesome start as they raced to a 4-1 lead. However, the Bucknell duo raised their games and forced the match to a tie-break. Despite some excellent play, the Bucknell pair proved to be too tough in the end, prevailing 7-4 in the tiebreak and giving the Bison a 1-0 lead heading into the singles.

Bucknell played extremely well in singles by winning four of the six matches. The Raiders’ two singles victories came at the second and fourth singles spots. At second singles, Inacker and Gamboa ran each other ragged in a thrilling three-set match, with Inacker prevailing 6-4 in the third. The fourth singles match pitted Cameron Williams against Carlin Calcaterra, who charged to a 4-0 lead in the first set. To say Williams turned things around would be a serious understatement, as she dominated the rest of the match, winning 13 of the final 14 games, giving herself a 7-5, 6-0 victory.

The women played a great match the next day to defeat Fairfield University, 6-1. The Raiders won the doubles point, as they picked up victories from first and second doubles. The women went on to win five of the six singles matches in straight sets. Stephanie Bender was impressive in her singles debut, defeating Gretchen Amberg, 6-2, 6-1. Isabel Reimer and Erin Fenn cruised at third and fifth singles respectively, while Samantha Inacker and Cameron Williams both picked up their second singles victories of the weekend with wins at the second and fourth spots.

Last Saturday was also a tough day for the men, as they lost a 4-3 heartbreaker to the Bison. Colgate started off strong by winning the doubles point. At first doubles, junior Martin MacIntyre and senior Tyler Deck defeated Ira Reibeisen and Ryan Sandburg, 8-6. The other Colgate victory came from the first-year tandem of Phil Bernasek and Ruslan Goussiantikov, as they bested Ben Young and Mark Malloy in a tie-break, which gave them a 9-8 victory.

Unfortunately, the Raiders were only able to win two singles matches, allowing Bucknell to return to Pennsylvania with a 4-3 victory. MacIntyre and sophomore Michael Yassky continued their winning ways, both defeating their opponents in straight sets. At first singles, MacIntyre bested Ira Reibeisen, 6-3, 6-4, preserving his unbeaten record in the Patriot League. Yassky prevailed over Anton Kovic at fifth singles, winning 6-4, 6-3.

On Sunday, the men took on Fairfield University. This time they came out on the winning side of a 4-3 match. However, things did not start well for the Raiders, as Fairfield took an early lead by winning second and third doubles. MacIntyre and Deck won their third straight match at first doubles, defeating Ryan Berthrod and Rob Ferrante in a tie-break.

The Raiders shook off the doubles losses to win four of the six singles matches, giving them a one-point victory. MacIntyre won his match at first singles with matching 6-4 scores to win his seventh straight singles match. Yassky also won in straight sets, while Bernasek rallied after losing the first set, 6-1 to take the final two sets, 6-3, 6-1. The deciding match came at second singles, where sophomore John Nogueras took on Rob Ferrante. Nogueras won the first set 6-3, but lost the second set by the same score. Up 6-5 and with the match on the line, Nogueras broke Ferrante’s serve to give the Raiders a 4-3 win.

Both teams will face off against Lafayette on Saturday and Patriot League Tennis powerhouse, Army on Sunday in home matches.