After its win against Niagara University on Sunday, January 28, the Colgate men’s tennis team suffered a loss against the Villanova Wildcats this past weekend, falling 6-1 on the road. Although the Wildcats were able to come out with a victory, the Raiders put up an intense fight with many 3-set matches, and a nail-biting tie-breaker played by senior captain Jacob Daugherty, that unfortunately ended with a tough loss. Though the Raiders did not come out victorious this time around, they were able to bounce back and pull out a 4-1 win against LaSalle on Sunday, February 4th. 

“The Villanova loss came down to a couple of close matches that didn’t go our way. They were a very solid team, and this was a very intense, close match to watch altogether, more than the score would suggest,” first-year Peter Hartman said.

This was especially true for Daugherty, who played into a 7-6 tie-breaker in the third set. After a lot of back-and-forth play, Stefan Suarez from the Wildcats was just able to beat out the senior veteran. Another tie-breaker match was played by first-year Scott Bickel, who was able to win a point for the Raiders as he beat out Villanova’s Tyler Roth in the third set. This earned Bickel his second win of the spring season and third dual-match victory of his rookie season. Although Bickel was able to notch a win on the Raiders’ belt, it was not enough to defeat Villanova overall as the Wildcats pulled ahead in their additional doubles match wins.

“Although we fought well, we definitely could have had more energy on the court,” Hartman said. Hartman’s high hopes for a turnaround came to fruition as the Raiders bounced back with a huge win in Philadelphia against La Salle on Sunday.

For the second time this spring, Daugherty earned two wins in the spring season, emerging victorious from both the singles and doubles in the La Salle matchup. In No. 2 singles, Bickel also notched his third consecutive victory. Other singles wins came from Hartman and junior Noah Rosenblat. 

La Salle fought back against the visiting team, taking the doubles point by winning their No. 3 match before Daugherty and first-year Tyler Krantz won the No. 2 doubles match. Because La Salle earned a doubles victory before Colgate, the doubles point went to the host team. Although things were not looking up at first for the Colgate men’s tennis players after their loss in the doubles point, they were able to clinch the match by winning the first four singles matches.

“This was key win for us. In order to win, we went into the match like we always do, with motivation and the ability to outlast the other team,” Bickel said.

“It was a great bounce back for the boys tonight. Daugherty, Bickel and Rosenblat clinched the singles playing vintage Colgate Tennis after dropping a tough doubles point. The energy and swagger are returning,” head coach Bobby Pennington said.

Following this victory, the Raiders will hit the road this weekend to take on the Siena Saints in Loudonville, NY on Friday night. This will be the last of the five consecutive away matches the team has played to open the spring season, and the Raiders will be hosting their home opener the following week.

Contact Lindsay West at [email protected].