The Binghamton men’s tennis team traveled to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania over the weekend to participate in the Patriot League Kickoff at Lehigh University. Binghamton participated alongside Colgate, Lafayette and the hosting Mountain Hawks in the round-robin tournament.
Junior Frenk Kote, freshman Valentin Bouchet and junior Vihar Shah won all three of their singles matches, leading the Bearcats to a dominating 14-4 singles record over the weekend. BU did not miss a beat despite playing without their top two singles players, seniors Eliott Hureau and Sid Hazarika, who were sidelined with injuries.
BU head coach Nick Zieziula had high praise for Kote’s performance.
“Frenk had a great weekend, he led the team in singles and doubles with his energy and focus from the first point to the very last,” Zieziula said to bubearcats.com.
Bouchet was particularly impressive over the weekend, winning his matches by a total of 36-10. One of three freshmen on the revamped Bearcats roster, Bouchet dominated his singles matches but could only muster one win in doubles alongside his partner, junior Thomas Caputo.
While the Bearcats shined on the singles courts, they struggled with doubles throughout the tournament. Kote and freshman Ludovico Cestarollo were the only pair to win multiple matches, beginning their weekend with a win over Lehigh and ending it with a win over Lafayette.
Zieziula was not impressed with his team’s performance in doubles, something that was a strength for the Bearcats last season.
”Our doubles was very disappointing this weekend,” he said to bubearcats.com. “We need to work much harder to stick to our tactics attacking at the net and our execution at critical points in order to be ready for the MAC indoors later this month.”
The Bearcats do not start their conference season until March, keeping plenty of time to get healthy and continue working on their doubles play. Four Bearcats are set to travel to Yale on Thursday for the ITA Northeast Regional. The first serve is set for 10 a.m. at the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center in New Haven, Connecticut.