Lehigh men’s tennis shuts out Lafayette 7-0 in season finale

Senior Ben Gilman came into the day with 98 career wins under his belt and with both a doubles and singles match scheduled.

After getting the doubles victory, his 99th win, and with a singles match remaining, the pressure was on to reach that milestone 100th win.

Gilman’s father was present at the match, cheering on his son. Just prior to Gilman’s singles match, when asked whether Gilman could rack up his 100th victory, the father simply said, “He’ll win.”

And he did.

Gilman and the Lehigh’s men’s tennis team toppled rival Lafayette College on Monday in the last match of its regular season. Lehigh defeated the Leopards 7-0, finishing its regular season with a record of 12-9.

The game was Senior Day for players Ben Gilman and Mitchell Petersen, and their last home game with the team.

Gilman explained some of the emotions in his head during the match.

“It’s surreal. Time kind of flew by,” Gilman said. “It’s been a lot of fun, and it’s great that we’re playing our rivals Lafayette to finish the season.”

Doubles team No. 1, which consisted of Gilman and junior Jeremy Kochman had a rough start, losing their first two sets, but they bounced back, winning the third and fourth sets. Gilman consistently made clutch returns and shots to the corner to give Lehigh the lead of 4-2 around the four o’clock mark.

Gilman’s backhand continued to disrupt all of Lafayette’s attempts to score. The Gilman-Kochman team boosted ahead to a three-game lead, with a score of 5-2. Kochman served the eighth game with Gilman in front to assist him. They continued playing hard and sealed the win, 6-2.

Gilman started his singles match off strong, winning his first game 40-love. The second set was hard-fought going into a deuce, but Gilman continually came out on top. His Lafayette opponent, Brendan Goldstein, would not back down easily, though, breaking serve on the next game to make it a score 2-1.

Gilman asserted the power of his backhand in the next game, increasing his lead to 3-1. The sixth game was another hard fought one going into a deuce, but still Gilman prevailed. Gilman powered through the remainder of his games, not letting up for a second. He won his next set 6-1 and with that, his 100th match.

The Lehigh players dominated much of the match, the sole exception being a Lafayette victory in the No. 3 doubles match — Lafayette players Chris Matturri and Mason Keel defeated the Lehigh duo of freshman Jack Petersen and sophomore Graham Lehman.

Both seniors, Gilman and Petersen, ended their last Lehigh tennis regular season with wins in their doubles and singles matches.

Gilman reminisced on a his Lehigh tennis experience, recalling “great relationships with the coaches and players. Aside from all of the lessons you learn from playing a sport, I just think it’s really fun being on a team.”

Following this match, Abigail Duddy, a freshman women’s tennis player for Lehigh, was happy with seeing the men’s team win.

“Although this win does not necessarily affect the men’s seeding in the tournament, it is always great to go out and beat our rivals, Lafayette,” Duddy said.

With its regular season at a close, Lehigh men’s tennis looks to the Patriot League Tournament, which begins on April 16 and runs until April 19 in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. The team, which nabbed the No. 6 seed, will face No. 3 Boston University on Friday. The quarterfinal match kicks off at 3 p.m.