The Oswego State men’s tennis team won their first game of the season, destroying St. John Fisher University with a 6-1 score. The Lakers emerged victorious, putting on a show against the Cardinals without suffering at any point.

The match started with three doubles matches. The Lakers won the first game, with Matt Mannara and Anthony Marcano scoring six points on top of Tyler Hernandez and Sean Brown scoring two. In the second game, the Lakers won again, but this time with a tighter score. The victory came 6-4 in the set against Mika’il Iqbal and Trentyn Grant. The set winners were Colin Byer and Tyler Yhun. To close the doubles matches and ensure favoritism, the Lakers won by six points to just one. Ethan Bannochie and Austin Davis dominated the entire set and came out unbeaten in the doubles. The victory was over Mason Shute and Dante Buttino.

With the doubles matches concluded, the six singles matches began. Unlike the doubles match, the first match came with two sets to zero for the Cardinals, in a very balanced game forcing us to reach seven points. Hernandez beat Bannochie 7-6 in the first set and 7-5 in the second. The second singles match was already an incredible show from Marcano against Brown. Marcano won both sets without difficulty, the first without conceding any points, a resounding 6-0, with the second set being 6-2. The third match was entirely dominated by Mannara, winning in two sets and not taking any points during those sets. Mannara beat Iqbal 6-0 in the first set and repeated that in the second with another 6-0.

The fourth singles match was also a great victory for the Lakers, who won both sets 6-1. Davis was superior throughout the game and the victory came over Grant. With the match already decided for the Lakers, Zach Demott had a good confrontation against Mason Shute. It was a very balanced first set, ending 6-4. Already a second with a broader advantage for the Lakers ending at 6-2. The last match of the day was an unprecedented clash between Charlie Roberts for the Cardinals and Trevor Stern for the Lakers. There were two completely different sets, with the first being evenly matched, with each point ending 7-5 for the Lakers. In the second set, it was an easy 6-1 victory.

This was the fifth consecutive victory for the Cardinals. The Cardinals have the upper hand in the historic confrontation between the teams, with 15 victories, while the Lakers have seven victories. The teams have been facing each other frequently since 2005, playing against each other at least once a year. The Lakers played their last game of the Fall season with these two games. The men’s tennis team will start again in March, with the match still to be decided. The Lakers were victorious over the Cardinals and lost to Nazareth University, finishing the season 1-1.

Photo by: Oswego Athletics