WEST POINT, N.Y. – It took nearly three and a half hours to settle the score between Fairfield University men's tennis and Bryant, but a third set win at No. 1 singles for Kaya Gore sealed a 4-3 win for the Stags in the first of two matches for the squad Sunday afternoon. Army West Point would gain the upper hand on Fairfield later in the day, as they split the weekend doubleheader to move to 1-2 overall on the season.
"The men had a very solid day today," said head coach Jeff Bricker. "Beating Bryant was huge. Kaya was a warrior overcoming cramping to clinch the match. We played great doubles all day and had some big wins from Hodges and Schlesinger in the first match. Proud of the effort today by everyone!"
In the opening match against Bryant, the Stags' No. 1 doubles pairing of Jonathan Olive Blanco Keean Shah shutout their opponents 6-0 to take the first win of the day in the neutral site battle. Gore and Sam Hodges would garner the point sealing victory for Fairfield with a 6-3 win in the No. 2 contest, with Charlie Morkel and Will O'Brien completing the sweep with a 6-5 victory at No. 3 doubles.
After clinching the doubles points, the Bulldogs would counter by taking three of the first four singles on the day, to take a 3-2 lead in the match. The lone point for Fairfield would come in the No. 6 contest between Griffin Schlesinger and Bryant's Jaedan Patterson, as the Stags junior took a three-set victory 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.
Hodges went the distance in his No. 4 match against the Bulldogs' Will Pellegrini, but was able to pull out a 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 win to level the overall match score at 3-3. That left just the No. 1 bout the final to be decided between Kaya Gore and Diego Serra Sparrow. The Bryant sophomore took the first set 7-5, with Gore rallying late to force a decisive third set, where he would pull out a 6-4 victory to seal a win for the Stags to kick off the day.
In the latter match against Army West Point, all three doubles teams would put on a fight throughout their respective matches, but the Black Knights would sweep the round with a 6-5 win in the second doubles, followed by a 7-5 win in the No. 3 match to take the doubles point.
The hosts would capture wins in the No. 2, No. 4, and No. 6 singles matches as well, clinching the match with four points, where the match was called, leaving the remaining flights unfinished.
Fairfield men's tennis returns to action Saturday, Feb. 12 when they travel to Pennsylvania to take on Lafayette. First serve between the Stags and the Cougars is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. from the Sullivan Courts in Easton, P.A.
