The Binghamton men’s tennis team was unable to shake its losing ways, extending its skid to nine matches after a 7-0 defeat at No. 25 Princeton (13-3) on Sunday.

Much like a Binghamton (2-9, 0-2 MAC) student staring at the winter sky, a loss like this has the Bearcats searching for bright spots.

Sophomore Frenk Kote almost emerged victorious from his singles contest. But after winning the first nine games of the match, he could not hold on, falling to Princeton freshman Kial Kaiser 0-6, 6-4, 6-4.

“You get nine games handed to you so easily that it becomes a struggle to keep your intensity high,” BU head coach Nick Zieziula said. “Frenk had some opportunities to push through and finish the match. It wasn’t a question of fatigue.”

Kote was not the only Bearcat to take his match to three sets, as junior Eliott Hureau split the first two sets before dropping the last one, 10-5.

This has become a trend for the Bearcats so far this season. In the last 12 singles matches that went to the third set, Binghamton has only won the decisive set four times. And when facing a stacked schedule like the Bearcats have, that recipe has not been enough to win matches.

“You can’t take your foot off the gas at all,” Zieziula said. “It’s the little things that are the difference in getting results.”

Sophomore Thomas Caputo was able to finish his doubles match, but did not play his singles match because of an ankle injury. This opened the door for sophomore Douglas Notaris to play his first match of the season. Despite losing 6-2, 6-2, the opportunity provided invaluable experience for Notaris, who could have an expanded role for the Bearcats next season as there are two starters graduating after this season.

“We gave [Notaris] an opportunity to compete,” Zieziula said. “[Caputo] has more of a nagging thing — we don’t anticipate being more than that match.”

The Bearcats will try to turn their fortunes around Saturday when they are scheduled to take on Cornell. First serve is set for 5 p.m. at the Binghamton Tennis Center.