New Paltz, NY– After an impressive opening match yesterday, the SUNY Oneonta women's tennis squad stumbled and lost to their Catskill Cup rival, New Paltz, today by a score of 9-0.  With a very young squad of four newcomers in the Red Dragons lineup they competed hard but New Paltz continued to be the Red Dragons nemesis in the East Division of the SUNYAC.  

The early optimism faded quickly when the number one doubles team of senior Michelle Spencer (Homer/Homer) and sophomore Alana Green (Pittsford/Pittsford) kept their match close, but at 6-6, the Red Dragons lost serve and the Hawks' dou quickly closed out the match to take the top doubles segment of the dual match.  The number two and three doubles squads were not able to get on track as New Paltz dominated and finished the doubles ahead 0-3.

With the Red Dragons trying to mount a comeback in the singles stanza of competition the conviction to compete to the last ball was struck never wavered but the Hawks proved just too strong for the Red Dragons.  Oneonta kept their opponents on the court for four hours in the heat, but the overpowering ground strokes from the Hawks prevented the Red Dragons from ever making a dent in their arsenal and lost all the singles matches. Green, playing only her second singles match in her career, fought hard with very long rallies but just could not get that elusive big point to mount any lead and fell 1-6, 2-6.  Spencer also kept her opponent on court for over 90 minutes and the score of 0-6, 2-6 did not tell the real story of the hard fought match.

A bright spot on the day was sophomore Samantha Felice's (Seneca Falls/Mynderse Academy) match at the number five singles position pushing her seasoned opponent to 5-7, 5-7 but ultimately fell to defeat.   Felice was up 5-4 in the second set and was serving for the set but lost the next three games and that clinched the shutout of the Red Dragons for their first defeat of this young season.

The Red Dragons take to the road on Friday, September 11^th with a matchup versus Brockport beginning at 4 PM.

Doubles Competition
1. Brittany Grandville/Carol Tyson (NPWTN) def. Alana Green (Pittsford/Pittsford)/Michelle Spencer (Homer/Homer) (ONEWT) 8-6
2. Olivia Ammirati/Laura Tierney (NPWTN) def. Samantha Butcher (Sidney/Sidney Central)/Faith Haedrich (Islip/Islip) (ONEWT) 8-0
3. Liz Palmer/Maryann Badura (NPWTN) def. Erin Tully (Hampton bays/Hampton Bays)/Gabriella Dybas (Amsterdam /Amsterdam) (ONEWT) 8-3
 
Singles Competition
1. Olivia Ammirati (NPWTN) def. Alana Green (Pittsford/Pittsford) (ONEWT) 6-1, 6-2
2. Brittany Grandville (NPWTN) def. Michelle Spencer (Homer/Homer) (ONEWT) 6-0, 6-2
3. Carol Tyson (NPWTN) def. Samantha Butcher (Sidney/Sidney Central) (ONEWT) 6-2, 6-1
4. Laura Tierney (NPWTN) def. Aubrey Hodnett (ONEWT) 6-0, 6-0
5. Allie Starke (NPWTN) def. Samantha Felice (Seneca Falls/Mynderse Academy) (ONEWT) 7-5, 7-5
6. Liz Palmer (NPWTN) def. Gabriella Dybas (Amsterdam /Amsterdam) (ONEWT) 6-0, 6-3