Claremont, Calif. – The Trinity College men's tennis team fell to Bowdoin, 6-3, on Thursday in a New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) neutral site clash at the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges. With the loss, the Bantams move to 3-2 on the year and 0-1 in league play, while the Polar Bears improved to 5-1 overall and 1-0 in conference tilts with the victory.
Trinity gained an early advantage, winning two of three doubles matches to hold a 2-1 edge heading into singles play. The Bantam duo of junior Ford Traff (Wayzata, Minn.) and senior quad-captain Musyoka Mbithi (Roxbury, N.J.) scored an 8-4 triumph at No.1. Trinity's other point in doubles came at No. 2 as senior quad-captain David Myers (Winnetka, Ill.) and Daniel Carpenter (Wayzata, Minn.) also netted an 8-5 win.
In singles play, Bowdoin won five of six matches to rally for the conference victory. Carpenter was dominant for the Bantams at the No. 1 position, winning his match in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2. Several of the matches were tightly contested as sophomore Rutendo Matingo (Weston, Mass.), Traff and senior quad-captain Ned Mandel (Chevy Chase, Md.) all dropped three-set thrillers at No. 3, 4 and 5, respectively.
