GENEVA, N.Y.—The Hobart College tennis team split its opening weekend in the 2004 fall season, falling to Mercyhurst, 5-2, in the morning and beating Ithaca, 6-1, in the afternoon match today at the HWS Tennis Center. These are the only two duel matches the Statesmen will play this fall.

In the first contest of the day against the Lakers, Hobart (1-1) grabbed a pair of singles wins and one win in doubles play. Senior Peter Piné (Princeton/Princeton, N.J.) dispatched John Nichols (Mt. Lebanon/Pittsburgh, Pa.) in straight sets (6-3, 6-4) in first singles, while first-year Charlie Davis (Malius-Pebble Hill School/Cazenovia, N.Y.) beat Lee Michael Marnik (Peters Township/McMurray, Pa.) 7-5, 6-3 in the fourth spot.

Piné and junior Adam Raffa (Concord-Carlisle/Concord, Mass.) were victorious in the top doubles position, earning an 8-6 win over Marnik and Nichols.

The Statesmen bounced back in the afternoon match against Ithaca College, downing the Bombers 6-1. Piné earned his second win of the day with a 6-0, 6-0 blanking of Mike Abitol (New Braunfels/San Diego, Calif.). Davis also remained unbeaten as a Statesman with a hard-fought 6-3, 7-6 (10-8) victory over Joe Young (Pocono Mountain/Effort, Pa.).

In doubles action Piné and Raffa grabbed their second victory of the year (8-6) as partners, while Davis and sophomore Ronny Koenig (Roslyn/Roslyn, N.Y.) handed their opponent an 8-5 loss.

The Statesmen return to action on Sept. 18-19, traveling to Nazareth College for the Flower City Tournament. Hobart is looking to capture its second consecutive Flower City Tournament title and third in four years.