Lauren Boone
Staff Writer
The men’s tennis team faced three tough competitors this past week, with two road matchups last weekend against George Mason and Navy and a home match against Mount St. Mary’s on March 27. After the matches, the Orange and Blue improved their overall season record to 8-5 with a 4-3 victory over George Mason, a 5-2 loss to Navy and a 5-2 win over Mount St. Mary’s.
The Bison clinched the win over George Mason on March 22 thanks to the doubles team of Octavio Canibe ’15 and Aidan Lynch ’14. They pulled out a 9-7 win, claiming the doubles point that won the overall match.
The meeting began with singles matches, with Evan Zimmer ’13, Josh Katten ’13 and Nick Bybel ’16 all claiming victories for the Bison. At first, the Bison led the singles matches with three points to the Patriots’ sole point, but George Mason managed to gather a couple of points to tie up the score leading into the doubles play.
The Patriots kept the momentum leading into doubles. On the No. 2 court, they defeated Kelly Morque ’13 and Zimmer 8-3. But the Bison were able to claim the last two doubles matches to win the overall match. At No. 1 doubles, Bybel and Katten won with a score of 8-6. Finally, the Orange and Blue claimed the winning point at No. 3 doubles (9-7).
“George Mason was a pretty crazy match. We played in 40 degree weather and we’re in a battle with the wind as much as we were our opponents. Although it came down to the doubles point, this was an exciting win for our team. Getting a win under the unusual circumstances in a true battle is great and helps motivate our team. It was exciting being the last match on with everything coming down to Octavio [Canibe] and I winning or losing. I’m glad we came out on top,” Lynch said.
Unfortunately, the Bison were not able to the take the momentum from the George Mason win into their first Patriot League match of the season against Navy. Bybel recorded a singles victory and partnered with Katten for an 8-6 doubles victory. Kyle Rosen ’14 recorded the only other singles win with a score of 6-2, 6-3. Bybel’s singles win against Navy tied him for most singles victories this season on the team, but it was not enough as the Bison remained winless in 37 tries against Navy.
Against Mount St. Mary’s, Zimmer proved to be the hero by securing the match-winning point with victories in both singles and doubles, with Lynch as his partner. Bybel and Katten also won their doubles match, while Bybel, Canibe and Morque recorded singles wins.
The next game for the men’s tennis team will be on the road against Saint Joseph’s on April 2.