Stowe, VT - The Vermont State University Lyndon men's tennis team picked up their first Empire 8 Conference victory of the season when they knocked off Lesley University on Saturday evening. The Hornets followed that up with a non-conference win over the Lynx to improve to 3-5 on the season and 1-3 n Empire 8 play. Lesley remains winless in four matches, including two E8 contests.
Match #1 - VTSU Lyndon 6, Lesley 1
The Hornets and Lynx split the top two doubles flights, with Lesley's Jeremy Ouelette and Thomas Nicol picking up a 6-2 victory over Bryan Nazario (Little Elm, TX) and David Gratton (Newport, VT) at number one and Lyndon's Jack Giarrusso (Greenville, NY) and Wesley McIntyre (Troy, NY) gaining a 6-1 win over Hunter Treanor and Reuben Wasserman at number two. In third doubles, Lyndon's Parker Pierce (Woodstock, VT) and Joe Buchanan (McCordsville, IN) pulled out a 6-3 victory over James Ontiveros and Bennett Locke to give the Hornets the doubles point.
McIntyre made quick work of Nicol with a 6-1, 6-1 victory at first singles, but Treanor got Lesley on the board with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Addie Jensen (Coventry, VT) at fourth singles. However Gratton was a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Ouelette in the second flight and Nazario picked up a 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 win over Wasserman in the third flight to clinch the match for the Hornets. With the match decided, Giarrusso and Buchanan picked up straight set wins over Ontiveros and Locke respectively to account for the final margin.
Match #2 - VTSU Lyndon 4, Lesley 3
The teams again split the top two flights, with Giarrusso and McIntyre garnering a 6-4 win over Ouelette nd Wasserman at two but Treanor and Nicol answering with a 6-4 win over Nazario and Gratton at one. The third flight again decided the doubles point, with Pierce and Buchanan eking out a 7-6 (7-4) win over Ontiveros and Locke.
Lyndon quickly went in front, 3-0, when McIntyre beat Ouelette, 6-0, 6-0, and Nazario finished off Wasserman, 6-3, 6-1 at one and three. However, after Nicol took down Pierce, 6-0, 6-1 in the second flight and Locke overcame Zahi Rashid (St. Johnsbury, VT), 6-2, 6-4 in the sixth flight, Lesley pulled to within 3-2 with two flights remaining. Giarrusso's hard fought 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-4 fifth flight victory over Ontiveros clinched the match for the Hornets. Treanor's victory over Buchanan in a tiebreaker third set was too little, to late for the Lynx.
The Hornets will host Vermont State University Castleton in a non-conference match on Thursday evening at 6:00 pm at Topnotch Tennis in Stowe, VT.
