CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Lesley University notched their first victory of 2015 with a 5-4 decision over visiting Newbury College in New England Collegiate Conference action Tuesday evening at the Nicholas Athletics Center. Junior Ian Barber (Westhampton, Mass.) led the way for the Lynx winning both his singles and doubles matches which included sealing the match with a two-set, 6-4, 6-4 win in sixth singles.
Newbury jumped out to the early lead taking the doubles portion of the competition, 2-1, and jumped ahead 3-1 after the first singles match when sophomore Christian Repunte (Burlington, Mass.) downed Lesley freshman Niko Marcolini (Newbury, Mass.) in first singles 6-0, 6-0.
However, the Lynx were resilient and battled their way back. First year James Webb (San Francisco, Calif.) defeated Newbury freshman Alex Rodriguez (Hyde Park, Mass.) in fifth singles, 6-2, 6-2 while Jack Tortorici (Grass Valley, Calif.) earned a victory in No. 4 singles, 6-1, 6-0 to tie the match up at three.
Nighthawks senior Wayne Gethers (Cambridge, Mass.) ended up knocking off Lynx senior Jordan Santos (Middlebury, Conn.) in third singles, 6-2, 6-2 but Lesley sophomore Billy Baker (Sacramento, Calif.) took down senior Joey Verdon (Catskill, N.Y.) in second singles. Baker dropped the first set 4-6 before rallying to earn a 6-3 decision in the second set and sealing the third with a score of 10-7.
In the deciding match of the evening, Ross and Barber battled in sixth singles. Barber grabbed the early lead taking the first set 6-2 but Ross was not going away quietly as he jumped out to the 3-0 lead in set two. However, Barber responded with a 6-1 run to seal the set and the match, 6-4, 6-4.
With the win, Lesley improves to 1-4 overall and 1-2 in NECC action while Newbury drops to 1-2 on the season and 0-2 in conference play. The Lynx return to the court on Thursday as they play host to NECC foe Mitchell College at 6:30p while the Nighthawks will square off in a non-conference tilt with Suffolk University at 6:00p on Saturday.
Newbury drops to 1-2 and 0-2 in conference play while Lesley picks up their first victory of the season improving to 1-4 and 1-2 in NECC action. The Nighthawks return to the courts on Saturday April 4th for a non-conference tilt against Suffolk University at 6:00 p.m. in Cambridge, Mass. The Lynx will be back in action Thursday April 2nd when they host Mitchell College at 6:30 p.m. in Cambridge, Mass.