The Binghamton men’s tennis team fell flat over the weekend, dropping its match to 53rd-ranked Cornell, 7-0. The Bearcats were only able to take just two sets in Ithaca, as their struggles persisted from first doubles all the way to sixth singles. The women’s team suffered a similar fate, dropping two matches to Temple and Fordham.
For the men, senior Eliott Hureau and freshman Ludovico Cestarollo almost took a set at first doubles, but ultimately fell short in their 7-6 defeat. After the Bearcats lost the doubles point, they were unable to get any momentum going before the match got out of control.
Binghamton head coach Nick Zieziula was critical of his team’s effort.
“We need to get much tougher in order to close out matches and sets,” Zieziula said in a press release to bubearcats.com. “We give ourselves chances and opportunities up to a point but we don’t trust the process the whole way through.”
Close matches at fifth and sixth singles were ultimately the highlight of the contest for the Bearcats, as they were able to take those matchups to three sets before ultimately falling.
Freshman Valentin Bouchet bounced back from a 6-2 first-set defeat to take the second set, 6-4, before ultimately dropping the third set at the fifth singles slot. Junior Frenk Kote won his first set before dropping the last two at the sixth singles slot.
In the women’s 7-0 loss to Temple, the Bearcats failed to win two matches that were up in the air heading into the third set.
Senior Sara Kohtz won the first set in her first singles match, but could not finish off Temple’s Alina Abdurakhimova in her 5-7, 6-4, 10-6 defeat.
Seniors Shea Brodsky and Alexis Tashiro followed suit, as both were unable to win the third set in their respective singles matches. The Bearcats had an opportunity to compete in a close matchup against a bigger school, but were unable to close out their matches on top.
“The more tiebreakers we play, the better we get at handling the high-stress situations,” said head coach Libby McGovern.
The doubles point, which the Bearcats were unable to take against Temple or Sunday’s opponent, Fordham, ended up being decisive in their latter matchup. A 4-3 loss in in the Bronx saw the Bearcats nearly grab a win against the Rams, but splitting the singles matches caused the Bearcats to come up just short again.
A notable victory for the Bearcats in their match against Fordham came in the form of Tashiro’s comeback effort. After dropping the first set, 6-1, Tashiro came up with 7-5 and 10-7 victories to seal the comeback.
“Her mindset changed from being aggressive early in points to putting a lot more balls in play every point and working the point to her advantage by taking control with her forehand,” McGovern said.
The men’s tennis team is set to suit up next when it travels to Buffalo on Friday at 1 p.m. from the Miller Tennis Center in Williamsville, New York, while the women will look to end their two game losing skid when they host Marist. First serve is set for Friday at 7 p.m. from the Binghamton Tennis Center in Binghamton, New York.