Mountain Hawks seek first league win Saturday vs. Colgate
Posted: 04/06/2012 | Last updated: April 6, 2012 at 09:27 AM
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – After a tough loss to start the Patriot League season, Lehigh (8-6, 0-1 PL) returns home this weekend for a match with the Colgate Raiders. Saturday’s contest will be the first of four straight home matches for Lehigh as the Mountain Hawks will look to register theor third straight win against Colgate.
Lehigh dropped last weekend’s league opener to Navy, 7-0. The Midshipmen won two of three doubles sets and swept all six singles matches. With their doubles victory, sophomore Mark Goldberg and freshman Mitch Petersen were Lehigh’s lone winners on the day. The Mountain Hawks have registered at least one doubles victory in 13 consecutive matches. Five Mountain Hawks have at least six doubles victories this season. Sophomore Timur Chernkyh and freshman Ben Gilman lead the team with nine apiece. .
Gilman received an honorable mention award from the Patriot League for his outstanding play during March. The Chappaqua, N.Y. native posted a 3-1 singles record and 3-2 doubles record and currently leads the Mountain Hawks with an 11-2 singles record. His 11-match win streak came to an end against Navy.
Colgate (8-8, 1-2 PL) won its last match, 6-1, against Lafayette. After losing three straight to start the season, the Raiders rebounded nicely in the form of a five-match win streak to get on track. The Raiders also have league losses to Navy and Army. The Mountain Hawks have defeated the Raiders by narrow 4-3 margins in each of the last two seasons.
Saturday’s match has moved to a noon start. It will begin with doubles play inside the Lewis Tennis Center, while the Lehigh and Colgate women play singles outside. The men’s teams will then move outside onto the Ulrich Varsity Courts for their singles matches.
Story by Antoine Williams ‘12