Schenectady, NY – A short lived two match winning streak came to a halt today as Union College handed the SUNY Oneonta Red Dragon's women's tennis squad a 7-2 defeat.   A 3 ½ hour match of long rallies and spirited competition was the theme this afternoon but the Union College Women had too much fire power and the Red Dragons eventually succumbed.

Doubles play was a compelling event as all three matches had long rallies and spirited net play.  The number one doubles team from Oneonta senior Michelle Spencer (Homer/Homer) and junior Alana Green (Pittsford/Pittsford) traded breaks with their foes from Schenectady and went down 5-6 but Spencer and Green ran off the next three games with crafty play and their usual fantastic teamwork and took the match 8-6.  Number three doubles was equally gripping as freshman Faith Haedrich (Islip/Islip) fighting off flu like symptoms and sophomore Samantha Felice (Seneca Falls/Mynderse Academy) played an incredibly tight match.  Felice and Haedrich were up 7-4 and held match points but just could not get that elusive final tally and lost the next five games to drop a close 9-7 match. 

Singles play began with the Red Dragon's in striking distance down only 2-1.  However, the Union College women kept the Red Dragons at bay and won five of the six singles matches contested.  However, at number one singles the Red Dragon's Green outplayed her opponent from Union by displaying mentally tough methodical, deliberate error free tennis and took down her opponent 6-4, 7-6.  Green was actually down 2-5 in the second set but caught up to her opponent tying the contest at 5-5.  The two women traded breaks and got the set into a tiebreaker at 6-6 where Green then separated herself from her opponent winning 7-2 in the breaker and securing the lone singles point for the Red Dragons.

The SUNY Oneonta men's women's tennis team next hosts Rochester Institute of Technology on Saturday, April 23^rd beginning at 1 PM on the campus of SUNY Oneonta Heissan Tennis Courts.