If one thing is already established for the Skaneateles boys tennis team this spring, it’s that, when the pressure is at its greatest during tie-breakers, it seems to play even better.
That was the case in several instances during last Wednesday’s match against Auburn at Austin Park. In three different matches, the Lakers faced tie-breakers and won them, twice in third sets, on the way to beating the Maroons 5-2.
During the first doubles match, the Skaneateles duo of Matt Benson and Ryan Bailey squandered an early lead and got pushed to the third-set brink by Trevor Bohannon and Luke Parker, but still managed to prevail 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7-3).
It was the same in third doubles, only here it was the Lakers making the comeback as Nick Glaza and Anthony Panasci trailed early against Shahil Patel and Matt MicGlire, but stormed back to take the second set and then, two points from defeat, the third-set tie-breaker as well in a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) decision.
Connor Driscoll, playing second singles, won his own first-set tie-breaker over Auburn’s William Clark, going on to win 7-6 (7-4), 6-1, while Dan Judge required nothing extra in his 6-2, 6-1 romp over Michael Morrissey.
In first singles, Joe Ausio lost, 6-0, 6-0, to Auburn star Scott Minnoe, but in doubles Matt Olvier and Jacob Stone got a 6-0, 6-0 shutout over Matthias Ballard and Andrew Giannettino. Malcolm Lombardi and Jack Lawson had their own 6-0, 6-0 win over Jacob Wansor and Connor Davia.
