NORTH TONAWANDA, N.Y. – The Niagara Purple Eagles tennis programs opened their spring schedule on Friday against the Colgate Raiders at Sportsplex.  The result of both matches came down to the final singles match with the men’s team falling 4-3 while the women’s team prevailed, 4-3.

The top three singles players on the women’s side (1-0) all cruised to straight sets wins:Hilary Hansen, Iva Celan and Ashley Ta. Colgate (1-2) won the sixth and fifth singles to tie the match at 3-3. In the decisive match, freshman Maria Ortiz pulled through with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Colgate’s Kelsey Wanhainen in No. 4 singles.

“Obviously, I’m happy with the way the women competed…for being such a young team and the way they conducted themselves in a tight match,” head coach Anthony Nguyen in his first win in charge of the women’s team.

On the men’s side, NU (0-1) dropped the doubles point and fell in No. 1 singles before rallying to tie the match at 2-2 with wins by David Raymond and Brandon Gallegos. Freshman Olivier Dufour Coursol put Niagara in the lead with a 6-2, 6-1 win in No. 5 singles over Sean Spellberg. However, the Raiders (2-3) squeaked past NU in No. 4 singles and eventually won the match by winning the sixth singles match.

“We came out flat in doubles,” Nguyen said. “We performed well in some spots in singles, but in other spots I was disappointed in the way we competed. We have to do a better job competing one through six. 

Both teams will be in action on Saturday when Niagara hosts Mercyhurst at 5 p.m.

Colgate 4, Niagara University 3

Singles competition
1. Luke Gensburg (COLGATE) def. Zelic, Joseph (NIA) 6-1, 6-0
2. Raymond, David (NIA) def. Bobby Berkowitz (COLGATE) 6-2, 6-4
3. Gallegos, Brandon (NIA) def. Alec Goldstein (COLGATE) 6-4, 5-7, 7-5
4. Sean Spellberg (COLGATE) def. Lemieux-Sarrasin, D. (NIA) 7-5, 7-5
5. Coursol, Olivier (NIA) def. Connor Feuille (COLGATE) 6-2, 6-1
6. Alan Pleat (COLGATE) def. Lacasse, Mathieu (NIA) 6-3, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. Alec Goldstein/Parker Lewis (COLGATE) def. Gallegos, Brandon/Raymond, David (NIA) 9-8 (7-4)
2. Luke Gensburg/Sean Spellberg (COLGATE) def. Zelic, Joseph/Coursol, Olivier (NIA) 8-6
3. Bobby Berkowitz/Harry Jewett (COLGATE) def. Lacasse, Mathieu/Lemieux-Sarrasin, D. (NIA) 8-5

Niagara University 4, Colgate 3

Singles competition
1. Hansen, Hilary (NIAW) def. Alex Petrini (COLGATEW) 6-4, 6-1
2. Celan, Iva (NIAW) def. Kelsey Shea (COLGATEW) 6-2, 6-2
3. Ta, Ashley (NIAW) def. Stephanie Brown (COLGATEW) 6-4, 6-3
4. Ortiz, Maria (NIAW) def. Kelsey Wanhainen (COLGATEW) 6-4, 6-4
5. Merideth Rock (COLGATEW) def. Zilka, Rachel (NIAW) 6-0, 6-0
6. Olivia Rauh (COLGATEW) def. McCune, Jenna (NIAW) 6-0, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. Hansen, Hilary/Celan, Iva (NIAW) def. Kelsey Shea/Kelsey Wanhainen (COLGATEW) 8-2
2. Alex Petrini/Stephanie Brown (COLGATEW) def. Ta, Ashley/Ortiz, Maria (NIAW) 8-6
3. Merideth Rock/Becky Silvers (COLGATEW) def. Zilka, Rachel/Sardellitti, Viki (NIAW) 8-0