Despite dropping two matches to No. 13 Columbia and No. 59 Old Dominion over the weekend, Binghamton men’s tennis coach Nick Zieziula believes his Bearcats (2-8) are headed in the right direction.

“The big thing we take out of this weekend is our doubles is darn good,” Zieziula said, following stellar performances from all three doubles pairs over the weekend.

On Friday, BU was shutout against Columbia, 7-0, but junior Sid Hazarika and senior Ismael Dinia were able to take down Columbia’s number-one doubles pair, 16th-ranked seniors Max Schnur and Ashok Narayana. The Bearcats nearly won the doubles point, but senior Robin Lesage and junior Eliott Hureau fell, 6-4, after they were unable to hold serve with an opportunity to tie the set at five games apiece against their opponents, who were ranked 58th in the country.

“We were within reason of taking the doubles point on a team that’s top 15 in the country,” Zieziula added.

Despite falling, 5-2, Binghamton was able to take the doubles point against No. 59 Old Dominion on Saturday, and did so without a win from its number-one doubles pair, Hazarika and Dinia, who were the only Bearcats to win a set on Friday against Columbia.

“We like to get some balance across all three doubles,” Zieziula said. “You have to rely on everyone to show up and battle to get points.”

A solid 6-4 effort by Hureau and Lesage was followed by a hard-fought tiebreak victory by sophomores Thomas Caputo and Frenk Kote to earn the Bearcats the doubles point.

After dropping his doubles set, Dinia grabbed a win in his singles match, coming back from one set down to win a wild match 4-6, 6-4, 10-8, against Old Dominion freshman Javier Mover Maestre.

Hureau got off to a blazing start in his singles match, taking the first set, 6-2, but was unable to keep the momentum going as he stumbled to a 6-2, 2-6, 1-6 defeat.

“He got off his game plan a little bit,” Zieziula said of Hureau. “He’s been an absolute rock for us this year.” Zieziula cited fatigue and the Bearcat’s tough schedule as reasons for Hureau’s disappointing second and third sets.

The Bearcats have had two away matches every weekend for the past four weeks, which has forced them to play many matches on the same day that they travel. In a sport that is so reliant on energy and stamina, this kind of schedule can really take its toll on student-athletes.

“We’ve had a tough go in terms of our schedule and travel,” Zieziula said. “It’s pretty much been nonstop since our trip to Western Michigan,”

Binghamton will look to reverse its fortunes on Sunday when it travels to New Jersey to take on Princeton. First serve is scheduled for 10 a.m. from Cordish Family Pavilion and Lenz Tennis Center in Princeton, New Jersey.