SYRACUSE, N.Y. (4/5/09) - The Colgate men's tennis team outlasted the Bucknell Bison, 4-3 on Saturday afternoon at the Eastside Tennis Club.  The Raiders now improve to 2-1 in Patriot League play and 9-7 overall, while the Bison fall to 5-8 overall and 0-2 in the conference.

The Raiders first swept the doubles competition, winning all three matches for the doubles point.  At first doubles, Martin MacIntyre (Arlington, Va.) and John Nogueras (Parkland, Fla.) defeated Ryan Sandburg and Anton Kovic, 9-8, while Phil Bernasek (Fairfield, Conn.) and Ruslan Goussiantnikov (Needham, Mass.) took down Jonathan Brenner and Gregg Cohenca, 9-7 at second doubles.  In the No. 3 spot, Michael Yassky (New York, N.Y.) and Jamie Pellechi (Pound Ridge, N.Y.) defeated Mark Malloy and Daniel Bednarek, 8-5.

In singles action, MacIntyre downed Sandburg 7-6, 6-1, in the No. 1 spot, and Nogueras defeated Kovic 6-3, 6-4 at second singles.  The Bison won the third and fifth singles spots, with Malloy downing Bernasek, 6-3, 6-2 at third singles and Brenner defeating Goussiantinikov, 6-3, 7-6, at fifth.  Yassky won the fourth singles match 6-1, 6-2 against Cohenca, while Sean Spellberg (Naples, Fla.) rounded out the singles action, falling to Bednarek, 8-5 at the sixth singles position. 

"Its a beautiful thing to beat a rival like Bucknell who beat us last year and was ranked ahead of us in the preseason polls,” commented head coach Bobby Pennington.  “We are now 4-0 in 4-3 matches.  We can't wait to play Army on Friday."

The Raiders will be back in action this Friday when they take on another Patriot League opponent Army.  The two teams will meet April 10, at noon on the Colgate campus. 

Colgate 4
Bucknell 3
Doubles:
MacIntyre/Nogueras def. Sandberg/Kovic 9-8
Bernasek/Goussiantnikov def. Brenner/Cohenca 9-7
Yassky/Pellechi def. Malloy/Bednarek 8-5
 Singles:
Martin MacIntyre def. Ryan Sandburg 7-6,6-1
John Nogueras def. Anton Kovic 6-3,6-4
Mark Malloy def. Phil Bernasek 6-3,6-2
Michael Yassky def. Gregg Cohenca 6-1,6-2
Jonathan Brenner def. Ruslan Goussiantnikov 6-3,7-6
Daniel Bednarek def. Sean Spellberg 8-5