Box Score Orlando, FL. – The SUNY Oneonta men's tennis team started off its southern swing with a loss to Hamden Sydney College of Virginia a strong regionally ranked program from the Mid-Atlantic Region.  Another four-hour plus match that began at 12:30 PM and last ball struck at 4:45 PM that saw close matches contested throughout the dual match.

Doubles was another barn-burner as the number three pair of freshman Riley Smith (Westhampton Beach/Westhampton Beach) and senior Cole Laffitte (East Setauket/Ward Melville) went up a break in the set and held to form closing out an 8-6 decision.  The other feature match came from the number two team of sophomore Marco Ammirati (Huntington/Huntington) and junior Nicholas Fox (Commack/Commack) who had three-breaks in their match but could not convert the biggest points at the opportune time and settled for a 9-7 defeat.  That put the match after doubles with the Red Dragons down 2-1 but in striking distance.

Singles was hotly contested on all courts.  The feature match was on display as number four Laffitte was never threatened and secured a perfect 6-0, 6-0 lopsided win.  Fireworks were abundant on all other courts.  Ammirati at number two was locked in a tight contest and he was up 5-2 in the second set but could not hold on and lost 6-4, 7-5.  Number three Fox was also in a nail-biter as he split sets but lost the super-tiebreaker 10-8 and thus The Red Dragons took another arrow to the heart.  A similar fate at number four-singles as senior Zach Lasky (Colonie/Colonie) went to a first set-tiebreaker and lost that 7-5 and kept things close in the second set losing only by a break suffering a 7-6, 6-3 defeat.

The Red Dragons will try again tomorrow and take on the regionally ranked Ogelthorpe College from Atlanta, Georgia beginning at 8 AM on March 7th at the Oak Street Courts in Kissimmee, Florida.  Then in the night cap the Red Dragons will close at the southern swing with a match vs Trine University of Indiana beginning at 7:30 PM on the campus of the USTA Complex in Orlando, Florida.