Sept. 29, 2014

LEWISBURG, Pa. - Members of the Lafayette tennis team continued their fall season over the weekend, participating in the Bucknell Invitational in Lewisburg, Pa.

Freshman Evan Alexander was the bright spot for the Leopards winning his singles flight with a 6-2, 5-7, 10-5 victory over Juan Pardo of St. Francis (Pa.) in the opening round, a 6-1, 6-4 win over Christian Cioffi of Bloomsburg in the second, and a hard-fought 6-3, 3-6, 10-5 win in the final against Bloomsburg's Steve Williams.

Also coming through with a victory was the doubles duo of senior Brandon Goldstein and junior Brian Stefanowicz. The pair won the Flight A Doubles, notching an 8-3 win over Bucknell's Canibe/Gerber, an 8-7 win against Carvajal/Jimenez from St. Francis (Pa.), and an 8-4 final over Kane/Wright, also from Bucknell.

Also earning singles wins on the day were Goldstein, junior Chris Matturi, senior Brian Pinkard, senior Jake Lazar and junior Gavin Studner. Goldstein pulled out a 6-0, 7-6 win over Tito Machado of Bloomsburg before falling to Max Kane of Bucknell by a 6-1, 6-4 scoreline. Matturi battled in his opening-round match against Brian DiSanto of Bloomsburg. After taking the first set 7-5, he dropped the second 3-6, but battled back in the superbreaker, winning 10-7 to take the match.

Pinkard found himself in a similar type of match as Matturi in his opening-rounder with Sergio Carvajal of St. Francis (Pa.). After dropping the first set, 3-6, he refocused winning easily in the second, 6-1, and coming out on top in the third-set tiebreaker, 10-8. Lazar won easily over Bloomsburg's Denis Ikeriji, 6-1, 6-4, but fell in the next round to Bryan Adams of Bucknell, 6-3, 6-0.

After dropping a grueling first-round match, 7-5, 7-6, to Bloomsburg's Williams, Studner was able to rally for a win on the back end of the draw, notching victories over the Leopards' Luke Timber, 6-0, 6-4, and Pardo, who had to retire midway through the second set.

Joining Goldstein and Stefanowicz with wins on the doubles side were the pairs of Pinkard and Lazar, Studner and freshman Mason Keel, and Matturi and Alexander. Studner and Keel dropped a tough 8-5 match to Szamosszeg/Erskine from Bucknell, but rallied to win the back end of their draw with an 8-6 victory over Cerdan (St. Francis)/Timber (Lafayette) and an 8-4 win in the final against Langenbach/Ikeriji of Bloomsburg.

Pinkard and Lazar opened up with an 8-6 win over Gervais/Pardo from St. Francis before falling to Kane/Wright of Bucknell, while Matturi and Alexander started with an 8-4 win over Langenbach/Ikeriji of Bloomsburg before falling to Avuski/Barter from St. Francis, 8-1.

Next up for the Leopards is the Patriot League Kickoff on Oct. 25-26 in Bethlehem, Pa.