Box Score Edgewater, NJ – The SUNY Oneonta men's tennis team just cannot seem to avoid dramatic finishes.  For the second match in a row and second time in four days SUNY Oneonta dropped a heartbreaker, this time 5-4 to the Yeshiva University Maccabees.  The Maccabees, coming off two shutout wins in a row and armed with two former Division I players and a four-time defending Skyline Team Champion had all they could handle, as the Red Dragons were hoping to get a big program win.

The evening began with the Red Dragons clinching the doubles stanza taking a 2-1 lead into singles play.  Junior Timothy Distler (Amityville/St. John the Baptist) and sophomore Nicholas Fox (Commack/Commack) came back from two breaks down and a 4-1 deficit to secure an 8-6 win.  Distler was struggling a bit with his serve but found his composure and rhythm and Fox and Distler got to mid-season form in securing a very exciting win.  Freshman Marco Ammirati (Huntington/Huntington) and junior Zach Lasky (Latham/Colonie) also came back from a service break down, and with superior net play and Ammiratti's big serve, they were able to clinch a huge win for the number three tandem.

Senior Michael Nelson (Manhasset/Manhasset) found himself up against a former University of Utah standout and former ranked No. 1 Israeli junior and gave him everything he could handle.  Nelson kept things close in the first set but dropped his serve and could never recover losing 6-3.  However, in the second set, Nelson had a 4-1 lead but his opponent broke and eventually got even to force a tiebreaker, which Nelson lost.

At No. 2 singles, sophomore Joseph D'Orazio (Smithtown/Smithtown) was fighting battling through an injury but managed to take the first set 6-2.  The second set was also close, but D'Orazio was broken in the early part of the set and was not able to break back even after holding several break points on tightly contested rallies.  Fortunately, the third set deciding super tie-breaker went D'Orazio's way and he held at bay the big serving lefty and secured an all important victory for the Red Dragons.

At fifth singles Lasky just finds ways to win with shear tenaciousness and resolve.  Lasky took the first set going up a break and it stood up when he took the first set 6-4.  In the second set, Lasky fell behind 4-1 before fighting his way back to force a tiebreaker, which he won to even the overall match at 4-4.

This left the match up to sixth singles player Fox who played great in doubles this evening as well as earning a huge victory at St. Lawrence just a few days earlier.  This time he was pitted against a prominent former junior player from Montreal, Quebec.  Fox was dominant in the first set as he held serve throughout and was successful with his patented superior net play.  His opponent never got down and Fox then dropped the second set 6-3.  The dual match would have to be decided with the super tie-breaker, which went Yeshiva's way 10-6.

Things do not get easier for the men as they will head to St. John Fisher for a match on Friday, Mar. 17.