The Binghamton men’s tennis team (4-2) dropped two road matches over the weekend, losing 6-1 to Brown (4-1) on Saturday before a 5-2 defeat to St. John’s (8-1) on Sunday. While the Bearcats were unable to record a win, the weekend was not without bright spots.
On Sunday, senior Eliott Hureau defeated St. John’s senior Lucas Hejhal, the 56th-ranked singles player in the nation. After dropping the first set, 6-2, Hureau came back with a vengeance to take the second set, 6-0 and the third, 6-2.
Nearly taking home a point for the Bearcats was senior Sid Hazarika, who took his first singles match versus senior Daniel Skripnik to three sets, ultimately falling, 10-8, in the third. BU freshman Ludovico Cestarollo was the bright spot for Binghamton on Saturday, as he was the only player to record a win against Brown. Despite trailing, 5-2, in the second set, he was able to take the 7-5 victory to claim the Bearcats’ only point.
“He’s had a lot of experience playing over in Italy,” Zieziula said of Cestarollo. “But we got to work to keep him a little more stable the whole way through the match.”
As a team last season, the Bearcats struggled to find consistent production from all six singles players, so performances like Cestarollo’s in the lower singles spots bode well for Binghamton going forward. However, an aspect of the Bearcats’ game that they will have to work on is their doubles play, all the way from the first to the third spot. Binghamton will look to continue to improve its doubles play before the Mid-American Conference season begins in March.
“We competed at one and three very well on Sunday,” Zieziula said. “But we’re going to go back to the drawing board this week and possibly change some things up.”
The Bearcats are set to take on VCU on Friday from Thalhimer Tennis Center in Richmond, Virginia. The time of the first match has yet to be announced.