Struggles continued for the Oswego State men’s tennis team, who went 1-2 over a trio of battles with Houghton University, Alfred University and St. John Fisher University.

The Lakers are now third in the Empire 8 West Division under first-year head coach Mark Baker, behind Alfred (9-4, 4-1 E8) and top-seeded St. John Fisher (8-3, 6-0 E8). 

The team kicked the weekend off in favorable fashion, picking up a narrow 4-3 victory over Houghton on Friday, April 10. Their strongside came in the doubles portion, as Tyler Yuhn and Colin Byer picked up a 6-4 win, before Connor Tutor and Jose Miguel Garcia Moreta put up a near shutout. 

Both the Lakers and Highlanders were neck and neck in the singles portion, tied 3-3 after the final duel. The most dominating victory came at the hands of Cole Lyons, who overpowered Rune Camps in a shutout. 

Following the Friday win, the Lakers fell in a shutout loss to Alfred, a perennial powerhouse within the conference. The Saxons dominated all-around, allowing the Lakers to claim just one victory throughout both the doubles and singles portions. Yhun and Byer were shutout, before Cole Lyons and Cole Fleming put up just one point in their competition.

Success from the doubles translated to the singles for the Saxons, as they continued to dominate with six consecutive victories. Sophomore Garcia Moreta came close within each set to a win, but ultimately fell to Breece Erickson. 

The Lakers returned home for the final leg of their three-game stretch, welcoming St. John Fisher, No. 1 in the Empire 8. The Lakers came up just short, falling 4-3 to the Cardinals, who remain flawless in conference play at 6-0.

Circumstances started out bleak for the Lakers, as they were shutout in doubles play by a total score of 18-4. The momentum started to turn in favor of the home squad, though, as they displayed effectiveness in the singles portion. 

Byer picked up the first win, 2-0 over Matt Lincoln. It was back and forth from there, though, which was a characteristic throughout the rest of the match. Garcia Moreta took Sebastian Dix to the maximum with three sets of play, but was ultimately overpowered in the final, 6-2. 

The Lakers then briefly found their rhythm again, as Duncan Baker and Yhun built momentum with back-to-back wins. The final match of the day came between Fleming and Trent Grant, who both tested each other’s abilities until they could not anymore. Fleming picked up a 7-6 win after losing the first set, although could not find a victorious stride and was defeated in the final set, 6-4.

The Lakers displayed one of their strongest efforts of the year in the aforementioned singles portion, but it ultimately was not enough to suffice for their struggles in the doubles.

The season has now hit its midpoint and the Lakers are in the month of the SUNYAC tournament. There are three more matches, first versus Nazareth University, then Alfred and Houghton to close the regular season out, before they reach the postseason stretch. The Empire 8 tournament, which the Lakers claimed last season, kicks off on the 29th.