April 3, 2007

EASTON, Pa. - The Lafayette men's tennis team more than had its hands full in a grueling 4-3 setback against Delaware on Tuesday afternoon at Sullivan Courts. A very evenly-matched contest, the Leopards will look to build on today's test when Patriot League action resumes exactly a week from Tuesday.

"The guys really fought hard this afternoon and keep getting better and better each match," said head coach Eric Ratchford. "Now we're just looking to keep that improvement going when we take on Colgate next week."

Ratchford reinforced the importance of winning the doubles point after the match, which the Leopards were unable to do against the Blue Hens. Lafayette's No. 1 duo, juniors Paul Guarino and Brett Kraft, did their part in taking down Nolan Greenburg and Jason Hanschmann by an 8-4 score. Unfortunately, Lafayette dropped the ball in both the second and third flights, allowing Delaware to secure a 1-0 lead heading into singles action.

Guarino continued to shine at the top singles spot, topping Austin Longacre in what was a 7-5, 6-4 seesaw dual. Sophomore Eric Wiley went on to defeat Greenburg on the second singles court, 7-6 (6), 6-2. Lafayette's other singles win came at the hand of Matt McGranaghan in the sixth flight, as the rookie narrowly out-did Camilo Perez 6-4, 7-6 (5).

Lafayette falls to 3-7 this spring season, and returns to Sullivan Courts next Tuesday at 4 p.m. to face Colgate.

Match Results
Doubles1. Guarino/Kraft (L) def. Greenburg/Hanschmann (D) 8-42. Longacre/Blumberg (D) def. Kojanis/McGranaghan (L) 8-23. Barrer/Perez (D) def. Wiley/Benezra (L) 8-5
Singles1. Paul Guarino (L) def. Austin Longacre (D) 7-5, 6-42. Eric Wiley (L) def. Nolan Greenburg (D) 7-6 (6), 6-23. Matt Liebman (D) def. Brett Kraft (L) 6-4, 6-04. Sam Barrer (D) def. Lee Kojanis (L) 6-4, 6-25. Jon Schwartz (D) def. Steven Benezra (L) 6-1, 6-16. Matt McGranaghan (L) def. Camilo Perez (D) 6-4, 7-6 (5)