NEW LONDON, Conn. —
Ben Bonetto (Bend, Oreg.) and
Brendan Love (Winchester, Va.) picked up a doubles win while Bonetto and
Konnor Eslinger (St. Charles, Mo.) opened their individual campaigns with victories, but the United States Coast Guard Academy men's tennis team was still downed by Endicott College, 2-5.
Coast Guard starts their season at 0-1, while Endicott picks up their first win of the season to improve to 1-5. The Gulls will look for back-to-back wins heading into their meeting with St. Michael's College (5-4) on March 7th.
Endicott claimed the day's doubles points by going 2-1 at pairs. The All-NEWMAC duo of Bonetto and Love picked up right where they left off with a 6-4 victory at #1 Doubles over Conrad Kadel and Aaron Terpko.
Bonetto later thwarted Kadel's attempt at revenge in #1 Singles with a 2-1 win. The Gull won the opening set, 7-5, but Bonetto took the second with a 7-6 result on a 7-5 tiebreaker. Coast Guard's ace secured his first win of the season with a 10-8 third set.
Eslinger opened his sophomore campaign with a 2-0 defeat of Eric Scalici, taking the match with set scores of 6-3 and 6-1. The day saw the collegiate debuts of freshmen
Lucas Peltier-Salazar (Santa Clara, Calif.) at #5 Singles, who teamed up with
Benjamin Carlander (Monument, Colo.) at #3 Doubles, and
Graham Fenn (Hyattsville, Md.) at #6 Singles.
Bears men's tennis will return to the court on Saturday, February 28th, at in-state foes Wesleyan University (0-1).